Department for Transport

First Transpennine Express

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the First Transpennine Express accounts 2018-19, filed at Companies House on 4 October 2019, what comparative assessment he has made of the (a) adjusted revenue growth of 8 per cent and (b) projected adjusted revenue growth provided by the franchise contract agreement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The financial performance of First Transpennine Express is monitored and analysed by the Rail North Partnership team on behalf of the DfT and Transport for the North (TfN). This analysis takes place every four weeks and is reported to the Rail North Partnership Board comprising representatives of both DfT and TfN.

First Transpennine Express

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the First Transpennine Express accounts for 2018-19, filed at Companies House on 4 October 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding that the operator’s (a) punctuality fell by 10 per cent ; (b) Moving Annual Average was 13 per cent below target and (c) customer satisfaction fell to 1 per cent below target over 2018-19.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The operational and customer performance of First Transpennine Express is monitored by the Rail North Partnership team on behalf of the DfT and Transport for the North (TfN). Performance is monitored against the requirements and benchmarks set out in its Franchise Agreement and any shortfalls are dealt with in accordance with its terms.

Public Spaces: Visual Impairment

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's Inclusive Transport Strategy, published in July 2018, what steps he is taking to ensure that public spaces are more accessible for people with a vision impairment.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Local authorities are responsible for managing their roads, including making public space accessible. The Department provides good practice guidance in 'Inclusive Mobility' on access to pedestrian and transport infrastructure. Section 3 relates to access to footways, footpaths and pedestrian areas. ‘Inclusive Mobility’ is available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusive-mobility The Department is in the process of updating ‘Inclusive Mobility’, and has research underway to inform this. The research is due to conclude by the end of this year, and the updates to the guidance will follow at a later date. Research into inclusive street design, a collaborative project with the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland, is also underway. We await the results of this research next year with updates to guidance to follow at a later date. The control of advertising, including the use of A-boards in public spaces, is a matter for my colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Department for Transport: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The information has been provided for the Department and its Executive Agencies.Information provided is self-reported and only includes those members of staff who have voluntarily provided information on their religion and ethnicity, which is not mandatory. Where staff numbers are reporting less than 10, we have not released the exact figures in order to maintain anonymity. Total No. Staff with reported religion as Muslim210  Total No. Staff with reported religion as Muslim within each of the following ethnic groups: Bangladeshi62Indian16Pakistani78Any Other Asian Group13African Caribbean Any Other Black/African/Caribbean/Black British Chinese White and Asian Any Other White Group Any Other Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Group Any Arab Group Other - Any Other Ethnic Group White-English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British Prefer Not To Say12Total No. Staff with reported religion as Muslim within each of the following grades: AA AO41EO52HEO47SEO42G719G6 SCS0

Driving Tests: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) part-time and (b) full-time staff were employed at Baillieston Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency test centre in Glasgow East constituency in each year since 2016.

George Freeman: The figures below show how many (a) part time and (b) full time staff have been employed at Baillieston driving test centre, by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, in each year since 2016.  Full time staffPart time staffSeptember 201656September 201785September 201876September 201955

Driving Tests: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on which date the property rental contract for the Baillieston Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency test centre in Glasgow East constituency is due to expire.

George Freeman: The lease at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) Glasgow Baillieston test centre expired on 14 March 2019. The DVSA still remains at the location under tacit relocation rules, until the landlord serves notice to end the arrangement or renew the lease.

Driving Tests: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date a Minister in his Department last visited the Baillieston Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency test centre in Glasgow East constituency.

George Freeman: There is no record of a Minster from this Department visiting the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s Baillieston driving test centre in Glasgow.

Railways: Trespass and Vandalism

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people have been prosecuted for (a) trespass on and (b) vandalism of railways in each of the last 10 years.

Chris Heaton-Harris: British Transport Police (BTP) collect data on crimes on the rail network in Great Britain. The table below shows the number of prosecutions for trespass, criminal damage and graffiti. BTP are only able to provide an accurate data set for the last 5-year period due to a change in crime recording systems. BTP has responsibility for the railway in England, Scotland and Wales. The figures below therefore do not include Northern Ireland.   BTP Number of Criminal Damage, Graffiti and Trespass Crimes that Led to a Prosecution by Outcome Date from 01/04/2014 to 31/03/2019   Policing Year by Outcome Date (1st April to 31st March)  Crime Group2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-1903A Criminal Damage Offences22815118120226403B Graffiti Offences43195719724Trespass Offences587449263393382

Department for Transport: Jainism and Zoroastrianism

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when representatives of the (a) Jain and (b) Zoroastrian community were invited to national events organised by his Department in each of the last two years.

Chris Heaton-Harris: It has not been possible to find out this information. The Department for Transport is an inclusive department and we work with a diverse range of communities and stakeholders. When planning events we work closely with local authorities and other organisations to ensure that representatives of communities that may be interested in attending, including the Jain community and the Zoroastrian community, receive invitations.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Paul Maynard: The demise of Thomas Cook has hastened the urgency of taking forward reforms in the area of airline insolvency. The Government announced in the Queen’s Speech on 14 October, that it would be taking forward an Airline Insolvency Bill. This Bill would provide for a special administration regime, alongside other reforms to enable the Civil Aviation Authority to have greater oversight of airlines in distress. This is the first step to protect passengers and the interests of the taxpayer in the event of future airline insolvency. In addition, the Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy has written to the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to ensure they prioritise, as a matter of urgency, an investigation into both the causes of the company’s failure and the conduct of its directors. The FRC will conduct a robust investigation into the preparation of the company’s accounts in compliance with these standards and seek areas where lessons may be learned.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Ronnie Cowan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department taken to help ensure customers affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook receive compensation.

Paul Maynard: We are sympathetic to those affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook. There is an ongoing process of liquidation which is in the hands of the Official Receiver. Passengers with ATOL protection are entitled to a full refund on any future bookings and the CAA publishes the process to follow after the insolvency has taken place. Government advise customers without ATOL protection to speak to their credit card provider or the company they booked their holiday with. Passengers should also speak to their travel insurance provider to see if they are able to claim back any of their costs.

Ports

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to undertake test exercises at UK ports to ensure the preparedness of those ports in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government has undertaken a comprehensive programme of work to promote preparedness in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal, which is continuously reviewed and updated to adapt and reflect to changing priorities. This has included advice to hauliers and shippers on border readiness. No further test exercises are planned between now and 31 October.

London City Airport: Night Flying

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people in Romford constituency that are adversely affected by night flights to and from City Airport.

Paul Maynard: London City Airport has night time operating restrictions set as part of a planning agreement between the airport and the London Borough of Newham. These restrictions ban operations during the night period from 22.30-06.30, except for emergencies. These restrictions therefore minimise night flight disturbance to areas such as Romford from aircraft operating out of London City Airport.

Sandbach Station: Access

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to ensure that increasing accessibility at Sandbach railway station is included in the Government's disability action plan.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: I am committed to improving access at all stations. Last year we published the Inclusive Transport Strategy which sets out what we are doing to improve access across all transport modes. As part of this, we extended our Access for All programme with an additional £300m of funding. This provides accessibility improvements over and above those required by the rail industry itself. Stations are nominated by the rail industry bodies who can work alongside local authorities and Members of Parliament. Stations are selected for funding through a prioritisation and assessment process. Sandbach was not nominated for this funding. We will continue to seek further opportunities, and funding, to make more improvements.

Northern: Contracts

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to maintain existing contracts between Northern Rail and subcontractors in the event that Northern Rail is taken into Government control.

Chris Heaton-Harris: In the event that any franchise were to be taken into Government control, the standard practice would be for a Transfer Scheme to be put in place between the existing and new operator to transfer those existing contracts and assets that would be required for the continued running of the railway.

Taxis: Licensing

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reform taxi and private hire licensing laws; and if he will make a statement.

Grant Shapps: The Government is taking robust action and will introduce national standards with Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Safeguarding Guidance, standardised checks, and enhanced enforcement. We will also pursue a national database. We intend to set out shortly these national standards which will safeguard passengers by monitoring adoption levels and engaging with authorities that do not follow them.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October 2019 to Question 2632 on High Speed 2 Railway Line, how much of the (a) £827,218.15. and (b) £85,672,231.94. was paid in each year since the start of the High Speed Two project.

Paul Maynard: The costs paid to WS Atkins by HS2 Ltd and DfT for each financial year in respect to works on the High Speed rail line are as follows: High Speed 2 Ltd: Year£m2009/10£ 1.242010/11£ 0.392011/12£ 0.542012/13£ 18.232013/14£ 23.542014/15£ 8.602015/16£ 19.632016/17£ 9.862018/19£ 3.102019/20£ 0.54Total£ 85.67   Department for Transport: Year£k2014/15254.22015/16213.62016/17359.4Total827.2

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff in her Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements her Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.

Nadhim Zahawi: This Government is committed to paying people a living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2019, the National Living Wage increased to £8.21 per hour, handing a full-time worker a further £690 annual pay rise. By 2024 the National Living Wage will rise to £10.50 per hour, reaching 66% of median UK earnings. The scope will be expanded to everyone aged 21 and over and is expected to benefit over 4 million low paid workers.There are no staff in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy who are paid less than the London Living Wage.Our contractors pay at or above the Living Wage Foundation rates for both London and the rest of the UK.

Iron and Steel: Manufacturing Industries

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made about the potential effect of Ofgem’s proposed reforms under the Targeting Charging Review on energy costs for steel companies.

Nadhim Zahawi: Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review is seeking to ensure all parties connected to the electricity network make a fair contribution to its fixed costs. This is consistent with Government’s views on the importance of an energy system that discourages free riding and ensures a fair distribution of costs, with solutions rewarded where they contribute to reduced system costs. Network charging is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator, and decisions on its review are for it to make. The analysis published by Ofgem is available at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/electricity/transmission-networks/charging/targeted-charging-review-significant-code-review. Ofgem expects total consumer costs to reduce as a result of its proposals. Ofgem has yet to take its final decisions on the review - it is currently considering the views and evidence provided in response to its most recent consultation.

Retail Trade: Employment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to prevent job losses in the retail industry.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Retail Trade

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to support discussions between local governments and the retail industry to help ensure a joint approach to draw consumers to the high street.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Post Office: Credit Cards

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Post Office is accredited under the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Brexit: Chester

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of the Brexit Readiness Fund has been allocated to Chester.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Business Readiness Fund was set up to help to prepare businesses for leaving the EU on 31 October. £10.6M has been approved across 139 successful bids, with just under £10.2M already paid to Business Representative Organisations. Applications have spanned a wide range of sectors, with organisations delivering activity across all regions of the UK. A list of all successful organisations will be released in due course.

Nuclear Power Stations: Construction

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage the building of new nuclear power generation plants in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: This Government believes nuclear power has an important role in achieving our net zero targets as we transition to a low-carbon economy. We are building the first new nuclear power station in a generation at Hinkley Point C, have published a landmark nuclear sector deal and are looking at alternative funding models for nuclear, where our consultation on the Regulated Asset Base model recently closed. We are reviewing consultation responses and will respond in due course.

Social Enterprises

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to integrate social enterprise into the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

Nadhim Zahawi: Social enterprise is very much part of the government’s vision for a stronger, greener future for the UK, where we lead the world in tackling climate change and improve lives by taking on the grand challenges facing our society. The Industrial Strategy provides a framework to take action against those goals by boosting productivity and earning power across the UK, and to make the UK the best place to work and grow a business. All enterprises are part of that vision, whether they retain or distribute profits, or re-invest for social or community purposes. Furthermore, the government welcomes the contribution social enterprise makes to local growth and prosperity in communities up and down the country.

New Businesses: Government Assistance

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to support (a) women and (b) people from ethnic minorities that want to set up businesses.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Enterprises

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to promote (a) social enterprise and (b) other alternative forms of business.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Community Interest Companies

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to promote community interest companies as a form of business.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

New Businesses

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps she has taken to encourage people setting up businesses to embed (a) social and (b) environmental purpose into their business structures.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Bangladesh: Rohingya

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the decision by the Government of Bangladesh to relocate Rohingya refugees to Bhasan Char island.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We continue to stress to the Government of Bangladesh that any relocation of refugees to Bhasan Char Island must be voluntary, safe, dignified and in accordance with international humanitarian principles and standards. The UK fully supports the UN's position that independent, full and detailed technical and protection assessments should be conducted of Bhasan Char before any relocation of Rohingya refugees is considered. We welcome the Government of Bangladesh's commitment to ensure any relocation is voluntary and would like to see the inclusion of UN agencies in any relocation process.

Kashmir: Politics and Government

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department has taken to help reduce tensions and hostilities in Kashmir.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are monitoring the situation in Kashmir closely and are in regular contact with the Governments of India and of Pakistan. When the British Prime Minister last spoke to Prime Minister Modi and to Prime Minister Khan of Pakistan about the situation in Kashmir, he underlined the importance of resolving issues through dialogue. When the Foreign Secretary spoke to Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar, he expressed concerns around the situation and called for calm. The Minister for South Asia has also had regular engagement with the Indian and Pakistani High Commissioners. He raised the situation in Kashmir with the Indian Minister for Minority Affairs earlier this month. Our longstanding position is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting political resolution on Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. We encourage India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue and find lasting, diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to support the maintenance of human rights in Kashmir.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We recognise that there are human rights concerns in both India-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The continued use of detentions and restrictions are worrying. It is important that individual rights are fully respected and that there is constructive dialogue with affected communities. We have raised our concerns with the Government of India. We encourage all states to ensure domestic laws are in line with international standards. Any allegation of human rights violations or abuses is deeply concerning and must be investigated thoroughly, promptly, transparently and independently.

Kashmir: Humanitarian Aid

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps he is taking to help secure free movement of humanitarian organisations in Kashmir.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are monitoring the situation in Kashmir closely and we are in close and regular contact with the Governments of India and Pakistan. We are aware of reports of restrictions on movement affecting humanitarian organisations and urge the Governments of India and Pakistan to ensure that the humanitarian needs of the people of India-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir are being met.

Pakistan: Foreign Relations

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when (a) he and (b) Ministers from his Department next plan to meet with the Pakistani High Commissioner.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are in regular contact with the Pakistani High Commissioner and his staff. They are key to furthering the good relations between the UK and Pakistan in a wide range of areas, including security cooperation, anti-corruption, and bilateral trade.

Bahrain: Foreign Relations

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what matters the Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa and the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs discussed at the UK-Bahrain Joint Working Group on 17 October 2019.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain and I discussed a wide range of areas of bilateral co-operation, including recent political and security developments in the Middle East, economic growth, security, human rights, healthcare, education, and trade.

Iran: Guided Weapons

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the capabilities of Iran’s ballistic missile programme.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​We have significant concerns over Iran's ballistic missile programme, which is one of the largest in the region. We continue to take action with the international community to encourage Iran to play a transparent and constructive role in regional affairs, and have repeatedly urged Iran to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2231's call for Iran not to develop nuclear-capable missiles.

Iran: International Atomic Energy Agency

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of Iran’s level of co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK fully supports the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) efforts to monitor, investigate and report Iran's nuclear activity. The UK has consistently urged Iran to offer full and timely cooperation to the IAEA, which will build international confidence in the peaceful intentions of its nuclear programme. We strongly urge Iran to fully comply with its legal obligations under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and Additional Protocol.

*No heading*

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of claims made by the Pakistani Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari in a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that India has used cluster munitions in Kashmir.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are aware of reports of the use of cluster munitions by Indian security forces. We discourage states from using cluster munitions, and urge non-States Parties such as India to accede to the Cluster Munitions Convention without delay.

*No heading*

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports of alleged human rights abuses in Indian-administered Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​We recognise that there are human rights concerns in India-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. We encourage all states to ensure domestic laws are in line with international standards. Any allegations of human rights violations and abuses are deeply concerning and must be investigated thoroughly, promptly, transparently and independently.We are in regular contact with the Governments of India and Pakistan and have discussed the situation in Kashmir, including the issue of human rights. We will continue to monitor the situation in Kashmir closely.

*No heading*

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to acquire accurate information on the situation on the ground in Indian-administered Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: ​We are following the situation in Kashmir closely and are in regular contact with the Government of India and the Government of Pakistan. The Prime Minister has spoken to both Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Khan about the situation in Kashmir. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to the Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaishankar. The Minister for South Asia has discussed the situation with the Indian Minister for Minority Affairs and engages regularly with the Indian and Pakistani High Commissioners. In addition our High Commissions in New Delhi and Islamabad are also engaging the Indian and Pakistani Governments and monitoring events and developments closely. Events in Kashmir can have regional and international implications and we continue to urge calm and caution from all.

Libya: Humanitarian Aid

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Libyan Government on the humanitarian crisis in Tripoli; and what plans he has to support the humanitarian effort in Libya.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK remains deeply concerned by the continuing conflict and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Libya. We regularly call on all the parties to de-escalate, permit humanitarian access, support a ceasefire and return to the UN-led political process. We are clear there is no military solution to the conflict.The UK has contributed £1 million to the UN Flash Appeal for Libya. This is to provide funding to the World Health Organisation to deliver life-saving medical care and to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to improve humanitarian access for agencies on the ground. Furthermore, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released $2 million to provide life-saving assistance to civilians caught up in the fighting, including vulnerable migrants and refugees. The UK was the biggest donor to the CERF in 2018, providing £114.3 million.

Syria: Military Intervention

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on that country's (a) invasion of Rojava and (b) attacks against the Kurds in northern Syria.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The UK has been consistently clear with Turkey on our opposition to its military action in north-east Syria. The Prime Minister spoke to President Erdogan on the 12 and 20 October and called on Turkey to end its military operation. The Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary also conveyed this message to their Turkish counterparts while I did so with my counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Önal, on 26 October. I welcomed the fact that the US-brokered ceasefire appears to be holding and urged this to continue. We have also highlighted our serious concern about reports of violations of international humanitarian law during the military operation and reiterated our expectation that all parties respect their obligations towards the local civilian population under international humanitarian law.

Saudi Arabia: Arms Trade

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason his officials in the Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) did not inform officials from the Department of International Trade based in that unit until 29 July 2019, when the ECJU approved the arms export licence for the RSLF, that the RSLF were deployed to Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Secretary of State for International Trade unreservedly apologised for the export licences that were issued in error. The Permanent Secretary of the Department for International Trade has commissioned, on behalf of the Secretary of State for International Trade, a full investigation to be conducted to: (i) establish the precise circumstances in which these licences were granted; (ii) establish whether any other licences have been granted in breach of the undertaking to the Court or the commitment to Parliament; and (iii) confirm that procedures are in place to ensure that no further such breaches can occur. The investigation is ongoing and decisions on next steps will be made when it has concluded.​

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Sustainable Development

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 892 on Cabinet Office: Sustainable Development, how many civil servants in his Department currently work on the cross-governmental implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Simon Hart: The information requested is not held centrally and can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Government: Consultants

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding the Government has allocated to consultancy firms to support preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

Simon Hart: The Government allocates funds to departments and programmes to deliver their individual policies. It is for departments to decide how their funds are spent.However, the Cabinet Office operates arrangements to help Departments access consultancy support for critical work on preparations for Brexit.The arrangements deliver value for money through significant procurement and contract management savings, clarifying customer requirements and proposed solutions, and by reducing procurement lead times. Departments are able to engage consultants outside these arrangements but this information is not collated centrally.Records of central Government contracts above £10,000 and information on how they are awarded are published on Contracts Finder: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Government Departments: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, in how many office buildings the Government operates.

Simon Hart: As of 31st March 2018; there were approximately 1,700 building records recorded with an office use. These include Call Centres, Front of House, HQ Offices, IT/Data Centres and Service Supporting Office. The Government Property Structure attached explains what central government civil estate is. Please note the following about this information:All information on e-PIMS is maintained by the central departments who ensure the data is accurate.Properties listed are in the UK (incl NI) only.Where government has leased space in a building from the superior landlord, this may be for part of, and not the entire building.Where multiple departments have a legal interest in a single physical building, ie. each has separately leased space in the building from the superior landlord, then each department will have an individual building record, therefore in some instances the building count will be greater than the actual physical building count.This information provided is on all assets listed as Offices. The figure reported in the government estate strategy refers only to offices within the scope of the programmes led by GPA to reduce the '800 to 200' offices.

Government Departments: Buildings

Jon Trickett: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Government has made on realising the 2018 Estate Strategy's target to reduce the office buildings in which central government operates from 800 to around 200.

Simon Hart: It remains the Government’s long term aspiration to consolidate its estate which is highlighted in the annual State of the Estate report. There is already a commitment to reduce our Central London presence to no more than 20 offices with the closure of over 40 buildings. In addition the creation of 14 Government Hubs in Phase 1, delivered by HMRC, will lead to the closure of over one hundred buildings. A list of completed and planned HMRC office closures as a result of Phase 1 Hubs can be found here:http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2018-1303/HMRC_Planned_Office_Closure_List_November_2018.pdfAn updated list will be published shortly.The Government will continue to seek opportunities to further consolidate its estate with Phase 2 of the Hubs Programme with 2 locations and the closure of ten buildings already announced.

Brexit: Publicity

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many designs for posters and adverts produced as part of the Get ready for Brexit awareness campaign mentioned 31 October 2019 as exit day.

Chloe Smith: The EU has now accepted the request for a Brexit extension. Up until this point, the UK was set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. On that basis it was important that businesses and citizens prepared themselves for leaving the EU on 31 October.Therefore all advertising designs for the “Get Ready for Brexit” campaign, which provides the facts citizens and businesses need to know about the steps they need to take to be ready for when the UK leaves the EU, mentioned 31 October. Not undertaking such communication would have risked unnecessary disruption to people’s lives and businesses.

Brexit: Publicity

Patrick Grady: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government has (a) paid for and (b) booked advertising space for the Get ready for Brexit campaign for dates beyond 31 October 2019.

Chloe Smith: The EU has now accepted the request for a Brexit extension. Up until this point, the UK was set to leave the EU on 31 October 2019. On that basis it was important that businesses and citizens prepared themselves for leaving the EU on 31 October. Some of those citizens and businesses may still have needed to take action after 31 October.Cabinet Office publishes the costs of the public information campaign monthly on a rolling basis as part of routine government transparency. This will be broken down by supplier.

Electronic Government: Personal Records

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, on what date funding for gov.verify stops.

Simon Hart: In October 2018, the Cabinet Office announced that government funding would stop in March 2020. GOV.UK Verify provides secure access to 21 government services and has over 5.2 million accounts. The government is committed to ensuring that services are able to access the identity services they need beyond April 2020 and has set out plans for how it will support the creation of a thriving digital ID market.

Government Property Agency: Public and Commercial Services Union

Mary Glindon: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what plans the  Government Property Agency has to recognise the PCS union for its facility management contracts.

Simon Hart: Recognition of Trade Union bodies is a matter for the relevant employers to determine. The Government Property Agency works with its Facilities Management providers to ensure effective engagement of both parties in cases where recognition has not yet been achieved.Contracts also set out agreement that the Principles of Good Employment Practice (as published by the Cabinet Office) will apply in regarding the employee engagement. A key principle of this is:“Government recognises the premise that engagement between employee, employer and a recognised trade union where appropriate can be a key to unlocking productivity and creating a motivated workforce that feels respected, involved, heard, is well led and valued by those they work for and with.

Government Property Agency: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government Property Agency's Total Facilities Management Contract requires (a) staff to be paid the  Living Wage set by the  Living Wage Foundation and (b) London-based staff to be paid the London Living Wage set by the Greater London Authority.

Simon Hart: The Government Property Agency's Total Facilities Management is carried out by Interserve FM Ltd and I refer the Hon member to the answers provided in PQ 214493 answered on 4th Feb 2019.

Department of Health and Social Care

Cancer: Screening

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of women attending breast and cervical cancer screening programmes.

Jo Churchill: Prevention, public health and early diagnosis are key priorities for this Government, but we acknowledge that more can be done. The recently published Independent Review of Adult Screening Programmes, conducted by Professor Sir Mike Richards, recommended that high priority should be given to wider implementation of evidence-based initiatives to increase uptake of screening programmes, including breast and cervical screening programmes. The Department, NHS England and Public Health England are now considering the findings of Professor Richards’ report and will publish an implementation plan early next year.In the interim, NHS England is investing in initiatives to help ensure equality of access to screening. These include locally-targeted interventions such as text and general practitioner (GP) reminder letters. As part of the delivery of the GP Five Year Forward View, the NHS has invested more than £258 million to improve access to general practice including improved access to all routine appointments (including screening) at weekends and/or evenings.

Measles: Disease Control

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reinstate the UK's World Health Organisation measles-free status.

Jo Churchill: As a first step toward the World Health Organization reinstating the United Kingdom’s measles-free status, Public Health England (PHE) re-convened a multi-stakeholder measles and rubella elimination group, including NHS England, to develop a UK-wide strategy. The purpose of the strategy is to renew stakeholders’ commitment to elimination and re-focus efforts to ensure this will be sustained in the medium- and long-term. A multi-agency implementation board is taking forward the actions of the strategy working with key national and local stakeholders.NHS England and General Practitioners Committee England also agreed the introduction of a new measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) catch-up programme for 10 and 11-year olds who have not received a completed course of vaccines via the routine immunisation programme.In addition, NHS England is running a catch-up programme for those who missed out on MMR vaccination at the scheduled time to get vaccinated. PHE is also running the Value of Vaccines campaign to help share messages and information on vaccination at the following link:https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/94-value-of-vaccines/overview

Vaccination: Children

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of childhood vaccination rates.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England monitors trends in the level of childhood vaccination rates.Although vaccination rates remain high, England has seen a small decline in coverage since 2013. The most recent figures, published in September 2019, show vaccine coverage increased slightly or remained the same compared to the last quarter for all vaccines, with the exception of flu vaccine uptake, when measured in children aged one, two and five years old. This data can be viewed at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/cover-of-vaccination-evaluated-rapidly-cover-programme-2019-to-2020-quarterly-dataYearly flu childhood vaccination rates can be viewed at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/839350/Surveillance_of_influenza_and_other_respiratory_viruses_in_the_UK_2018_to_2019-FINAL.pdf

Vaccination

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of access to health services on vaccination rates.

Jo Churchill: England has high coverage for most vaccines, with uptake levels for many vaccinations above 90%, but there has been a slow but steady decline in uptake over the past si years, which the Department and partners are working to address.The factors that affect uptake of vaccinations are complex and vary over time and by locality. Public Health England, public health organisations and researchers have worked to understand the relative impact of factors that are believed to affect uptake rates at a local level. The issue of access to vaccines features in the National Audit Office investigation into pre-school vaccines report, published on 25 October 2019, and in the Royal Society for Public Health report “Moving the Needle” published in January 2019. Both reports highlight improving access as a key issue for increasing uptake of vaccinations.

Cancer: Health Services

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the forthcoming NHS people plan will include a fully costed plan for increasing the cancer workforce.

Jo Churchill: The interim NHS People Plan was published on 3 June 2019 and sets out the type of workforce, and future staff and leadership culture the National Health Service will need to develop, to ensure the successful delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan. The final NHS People Plan will be informed by the Cancer Workforce Plan for England, published in December 2017 by Health Education England. This set out plans to expand capacity and skills in the cancer workforce, including targeting additional training support for seven priority professions such as clinical radiology, histopathology, oncology and diagnostic and therapeutic radiography. Since 2017 there has been a net increase of 833 full time equivalent staff across the seven priority professions. The full NHS People Plan will be published in the next few months and will set out a clear framework for collective action on workforce priorities over the next five years.

Department of Health and Social Care: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Caroline Dinenage: As part of our commitment to achieving a workforce representative of the society we serve and providing equality of opportunity, we monitor representation of all protected characteristics across the department. Providing diversity information relies on employees voluntarily completing their diversity information on our electronic Human Resources system and we continue to encourage staff to complete their self-declaration.The declaration rate for faith and belief within the Department is 58%, which is 937 members of Departmental staff as of 23 October 2019 and therefore, it should be noted that the information provided below refers only to staff who have completed their self-declaration. This information refers only to Departmental staff and does not include staff from our executive agencies or arm’s length bodies.The number of Departmental staff who have declared their faith and belief as Muslim, which we have grouped into grades to ensure that we do not disclose personally identifiable information, are:- Administrative Officer – Grade 7 – 37; and- Senior Civil Servant – less than five.

Catheters: Research

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 291565, whether all catheters used in the proposed Multicath clinical trial comparing single use and reuse of catheters will be CE marked as appropriate specifically for that single or multiple use.

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 291565, if he will publish (a) the application for funding submitted in relation to the Multicath study into catheter use; (b) the application for ethical approval submitted to the South Central, Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee and to the Health Research Authority and (c) the responses to those applications.

Caroline Dinenage: Applications to the National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research programme are not published. Further information about the trial can be found at the following link:https://www.southampton.ac.uk/multicath/index.pageThe Heath Research Authority (HRA) does not routinely publish applications for ethical approval or the minutes from Research Ethics Committee meetings, as they are commercially sensitive. A summary of the study is available at the following link:https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/multicath/The Cliny intermittent catheter was identified as suitable for use in the trial. This catheter is CE-marked for re-use over 28 days provided a cleaning process is followed between uses.

Department of Health and Social Care: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff his Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements his Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.

Caroline Dinenage: Whilst Government Departments do not seek accreditation to the Living Wage Foundation in relation to their rates of pay, the Department’s pay levels are above the current London Living Wage rates (as defined by the Living Wage Foundation) for directly employed members of staff and agency staff that are also sourced via the Crown Commercial Services Framework Contingent Labour Framework.Contractor pay levels adhere to the statutory requirements to pay the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. We do not require pay levels for our contractors to be above London Living Wage levels.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure gay and bisexual men in Lewisham, Deptford constituency have access to places on the PrEP impact trial.

Jo Churchill: Participation in the trial is on a voluntary basis and it is for clinics and local authorities to decide the number of allocated places they can accept. Almost all clinics remain open to recruitment with thousands of places on the trial available across all eligible at-risk groups and geographies.The trial website has been updated to reflect the availability of places in each clinic at the following link:www.prepimpacttrial.org.uk

Mental Health Services: Essex

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of trends in the level of demand for NHS mental healthcare treatment in (a) Romford constituency and (b) Essex in the next five years.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group along with North East London Foundation Trust and the London Borough of Havering are currently undertaking an assessment of local trends and level of demand for National Health Service mental healthcare. This is being carried out at borough level and is currently in progress. Information is not held at constituency or county level.

Mental Health Services: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse was of the provision of NHS mental healthcare treatment in Romford constituency in each of the last five financial years.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The information is not held in the format requested.

Mental Health Services: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in Romford constituency are in receipt of NHS mental healthcare treatment.

Ms Nadine Dorries: 4,7901 people were in contact with mental health services in July 2019 in the local area covered by Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group. In addition, 4002 people entered treatment with Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services. This data is not collected at constituency level. The data comes from two datasets Mental Health services and IAPT monthly data set. 1 Source: Mental Health Services Data Set, NHS Digital2 Source: Improving Access to Psychological Therapies monthly Data Set, NHS Digital

Mental Health Services: Disadvantaged

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to ensure equity of access to mental health treatment.

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on achieving parity of esteem for mental and physical health.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We are making good progress on putting mental health services on an equal footing as those for physical health. The Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in 2016, made a set of recommendations for the National Health Service to achieve the ambition of parity of esteem between mental and physical health for children, young people, adults and older people. We continue to work with the NHS to deliver on these recommendations with the majority expected to be met by 2020/21. Investment in mental health services continues to rise. Total mental health spend in 2018/19 was £12.5 billion, up from £9.15 billion in 2015/16. The mental health investment standard requires clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to increase the amount spent on mental health by at least as much as their overall budget. In 2018/19, all CCGs achieved this level of investment. The NHS Long Term Plan committed at least a further £2.3 billion a year to mental health services by 2023/24. This ring-fenced investment will continue the transformation and expansion of services for people with mental health conditions, building on our current targets. For the first time, children and young people’s mental health services will grow as a proportion of all mental health services, which will themselves also be growing faster than the NHS overall.

Mental Health Services: Children

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to improve the provision of mental health services for children aged five to 16.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Protecting our children’s mental health is a priority for this Government, and a core part of the NHS Long Term Plan. We made available £1.4 billion to improve specialist children and young people’s mental health services between 2015-21. Through the NHS Long Term Plan, mental health across all ages will receive a growing share of the National Health Service budget, worth at least a further £2.3 billion a year in real terms by 2023/24. Moreover, funding for children and young people’s mental health services will, for the first time, grow as a proportion of all mental health funding, which will itself also be growing faster than funding for the NHS overall. In December 2018, we announced 25 Trailblazer sites which will run the first wave of 59 Mental Health Support Teams, which will be fully operational by the end of 2019. On 12 July, we announced that a further 124 Mental Health Support Teams are to be set up across 57 sites. We remain committed to rolling out our new approach to at least a fifth to a quarter of the country by the end of 2022/23 subject to learning from the first wave.

Pregnancy: Mental Illness

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle perinatal mental illness.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We are committed to improving perinatal mental health services. Early intervention in the first part of a child’s life can significantly improve outcomes. This includes early identification and support for social, emotional, behavioural and mental health issues. From April 2019, new and expectant mothers have been able to access specialist perinatal mental health community services in every part of the country. Our investment in perinatal mental health services means that an additional 30,000 women will access these services each year by 2020/21 with the care that they receive making a significant difference to their lives – and to the lives and life chances of their children. The NHS Long Term Plan includes a commitment for a further 24,000 women to be able to access specialist perinatal mental health care by 2023/24. Specialist care will also be available from preconception to 24 months after birth, which will provide an extra year of support.

NHS and Social Services: Recruitment

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to (a) the NHS  and (b) the social care system of recruitment advertising in the most recent period for which data is available.

Edward Argar: Information on the cost of all recruitment advertising to the National Health Service and the social care system is not held centrally by the Department. This would be held by individual NHS trusts and individual care providers.

*No heading*

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to ensure that GPs follow NICE guidance on blood cancer.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to introduce a cap investment strategy for NHS mental health trusts.

Ms Nadine Dorries: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Twickenham (Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable MP) on 17 October to Question 20.

Health Visitors

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average number of health visitors per income quintile of the population in England in each of the most recent five years for which data are available.

Jo Churchill: We do not hold the information requested.

Psychiatric Patients

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients in inpatient mental health facilities have been held in such facilities for (a) up to three months; (b) three to six months, (c) six months to one year, (d) one to two years, (e) two to five years, (f) five to 10 years and (g) 10 years or more.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Information on the number of people in mental health inpatient services at the end of July 2019 is shown in the following table. The length of stay of an individual patient is influenced by many factors but the aim is always to have as short a stay as possible in an inpatient setting with patients returning home and having support from community-based services. Length of stayAge group (years)Under 1818 and overEngland95021,665Less than 3 months56110,2043 months and less than 6 months1952,6266 months and less than 12 months1322,48712 months and less than 2 years522,3542 years and less than 5 years102,5005 years and less than 10 years01,07010 years or more0424Source: NHS Digital, Mental Health Services Dataset

Community Hospitals

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with local health trusts on the prevalence of community hospital services.

Jo Churchill: The Department has not had any recent discussions with local health trusts on the prevalence of community hospital services.NHS England has placed community services at the forefront of the NHS Long Term Plan and are committed to supporting vital community services to grow and flourish. The Plan sets out their vision for delivering more care in the community and highlights the need for community care that is integrated, proactive and personalised.The Department is committed to dissolving the boundaries between primary medical care and community health services so that they work together better for the benefits of patients.

Primary Health Care: Lancashire

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the recent cyber attack on Pitney Bowes and its impact on the primary care provision within the (a) East Lancashire CCG and (b) East Lancashire hospitals NHS trust.

Ms Nadine Dorries: Pitney Bowes machines are not connected to National Health Service networks and therefore no effect has been seen to any NHS equipment. We are aware that East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust’s franking machines were affected and contingency plans were immediately actioned. This resulted in the Clinical Commissioning Group and a few other local companies franking the mail for the hospital in order to ensure patients received their letters. Both East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust have confirmed that there was no impact to the provision of care as a result of the recent malware attack.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he his taking to ensure the adequacy of availability of hormone replacement therapy medicines.

Jo Churchill: The Department fully understands that maintaining access to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications is vitally important to many people in this country.We are aware of ongoing supply issues with some HRT preparations due to manufacturing issues. We have been working closely with all suppliers of HRT preparations to maintain overall supply to patients.We continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure relevant information about the HRT products affected by supply issues and the products that remain available is shared across the National Health Service on a regular basis.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many non-disclosure agreements have been placed on NHS staff by NHS England in the last five years.

Edward Argar: Information on how many non-disclosure agreements the National Health Service has entered into with NHS staff in each of the last five years is not held centrally.Non-disclosure agreements are settlement agreements that includes some form of confidentiality requirement that applies to one or both parties. Confidentiality clauses used appropriately can have a right and proper place but should go no further than is necessary to protect the legitimate interests of both the employer and the worker. Any cause in settlement agreement or contract of employment which purports to prevent an individual from making a protected disclosure, speaking about patient survey, quality of care or other wrong doing that is in the public interest has no place in the NHS and in any event would have no legal effect.

Tildacerfont

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to make Tildacerfont available on the NHS.

Jo Churchill: Tildacerfont does not have a Marketing Authorisation for use in the United Kingdom and is not routinely available on the National Health Service. Tildacerfront is still in early development and is being studied for use in the treatment of patients with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Once the trials with the product are complete, the drug manufacturer will be able to apply for a Marketing Authorisation.Most new medicines are assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) through its technology appraisal or highly specialised technologies programmes which make recommendations for the NHS on whether treatments represent an effective use of NHS resources. NHS commissioners are legally required to fund treatments recommended by NICE. If the manufacturer seeks a Marketing Authorisation for Tildacerfont, it will be considered through the established topic selection process to determine whether it should be assessed by NICE.If Tildacerfont receives a Marketing Authorisation, funding decisions will be the responsibility of NHS commissioners, taking into account the available evidence and any relevant NICE recommendations.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress is being made on making PrEP available on the NHS.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the routine commissioning of PrEP on the NHS.

Jo Churchill: The Department is continuing to work closely with NHS England, NHS Improvement, Public Health England and local Government to ensure there is a seamless transition to routine commissioning of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) upon culmination of the PrEP Impact trial. We will set out how the programme will be funded very shortly.

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust: Finance

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the seed funding announced on 30 September 2019 will be allocated to (a) Charing Cross Hospital, (b) Hammersmith Hospital and (c) St Mary's Hospital, Paddington.

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the seed funding announced on 30 September 2019 will be allocated to Hospital Trusts; and what conditions will be attached to the use of that funding.

Edward Argar: As announced on 30 September £100 million of seed funding has been made available to support 21 major projects to commence their development of schemes to be delivered in a second phase of major hospital rebuilds (HIP2).This £100 million of seed funding will be provided as capital and will enable project teams, specialist advisers and site surveys. The funding will be drawn by providers in line with need up to 1% of the estimated capital value of each HIP2 scheme. The budget has been received for 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial years but funding this year could be available if there is an immediate and strong case. NHS England and NHS Improvement will be visiting the schemes to discuss their proposals and how they can be helped to develop.Trusts will be required to provide a breakdown of what seed funding will be spent on and how that will accelerate the project development. The Department and NHS England and NHS Improvement will then ascertain how much seed funding will be provided for each scheme.Seed funding will not constitute approval of the scheme as a whole as that will be subject to further development and subject to the usual business case approvals process, including demonstrating affordability and value for money.

NHS: Facilities

Mark Menzies: What steps he is taking to improve NHS facilities.

Matt Hancock: Government is committed to improving the quality of National Health Service premises including hospitals, primary and community estate and facilities. That is why we have announced the Health Infrastructure Plan – a new, long-term programme of investment in NHS buildings, estates and equipment.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Mr John Baron: What steps he is taking to increase the rate of early cancer diagnosis.

Matt Hancock: We have committed within the NHS Long Term Plan to have 75% of cancers diagnosed within the first two stages. In September 2019 we announced funding of £200 million for new equipment to drive earlier diagnosis of cancer and improve survival.

Antimicrobials: Drug Resistance

Jeremy Lefroy: What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on vaccine research to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

Matt Hancock: My Right Honourable friend and I recognise the importance of vaccination in tackling antimicrobial resistance (or AMR). Our AMR national action plan, developed across Government, includes commitments to optimise use of vaccines in humans and animals, and stimulate vaccine research and development.A cross-departmental Delivery Board, co-chaired by my Department and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, will drive and oversee delivery of this work and met for the first time this month.

General Practitioners: Recruitment

Mr Laurence Robertson: What recent progress he has made on recruiting additional GPs; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: We know we need more General Practitioners (GPs) and we remain committed to delivering 5,000 more doctors in general practice as soon as possible.It is encouraging to see, as of June, there are over 250 more doctors working in general practice than there were last year.As the Secretary of State announced to the House last Wednesday, we have built on the record numbers entering training last year with a record 3,538 trainees accepting a GP specialty training place this year.

Radiotherapy: Stevenage

Stephen McPartland: Whether he plans to increase access to radiotherapy in Hertfordshire by introducing a satellite radiotherapy service in Stevenage.

Edward Argar: A review conducted by NHS England and published in July 2019, concluded that expanded access to radiotherapy services for patients in the Hertfordshire area was desirable through the provision of a satellite service in the north part of the Mount Vernon catchment area, but recommended that the core service issues should be addressed prior to this. The review of Mount Vernon Cancer Centre is ongoing to ensure the service is able to respond to the significant advances in cancer treatment over recent decades which includes identifying a specialist cancer provider to run the centre.

Pharmacy

Stephen Metcalfe: What steps he is taking to improve community pharmacies.

Jo Churchill: In July, we set out plans in our landmark five-year Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework deal. This outlined our ambition for community pharmacies to be fully integrated in to the National Health Service, support patients get the best from their medicines and provide advice to the public to help them stay healthy for longer.As part of this, today we have launched a new national service referring patients suffering from minor illness to our highly-skilled community pharmacists through NHS 111.

Health Services and Social Services: Northamptonshire

Mr Philip Hollobone: If he will establish an integrated health and social care pilot programme in Northamptonshire.

Edward Argar: Last week, in a Westminster Hall debate called by my Hon. Friend, I announced the approval of £46 million for the Urgent Care scheme at Kettering General Hospital, to be awarded at the next capital review.Officials have been supporting Northamptonshire to develop their proposals on health and social care integration. The Secretary of State is looking forward to considering the updated proposals from Northamptonshire in due course.

General Practitioners

Rachel Maclean: What steps he is taking to improve GP services.

Jo Churchill: General Practitioner (GP) services are critically important to support our ambition for people to live independent, healthier lives for longer. Our NHS Long Term Plan commits at least £4.5billion a year more for primary and community care by 2023, and we remain committed to delivering an additional 5,000 GPs.Our landmark five-year GP contract will better integrate care through Primary Care Networks and see an extra 20,000 primary care staff, so every patient has faster access to the most appropriate primary care professional.

Department for International Development

Pakistan: Training

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if his Department will provide specific training courses for religious minority candidates under the Punjab Skills Development Fund in coordination with the Punjab Government.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Nearly 6,000 people from religious minorities have received training through the Punjab Skills Development Fund’s regular skill schemes. This Fund is launching an exclusive skills scheme for religious minorities from January 2020. Under this scheme, a further 5,000 people from religious minorities (40% women) who are unemployed will be trained in a variety of trades that will lead to work. Lessons from this experience will help the Fund further refine its interventions for minorities.

Pakistan: Textbooks

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to (a) ensure that schools in Pakistan supported by his Department do not use textbooks with content that stigmatises religious minorities and (b) encourage provincial governments in Pakistan to work with religious minority groups to remove that content.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Inclusion and respect for minority communities forms an integral part of our provincial and national education programmes in Pakistan. Through the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Education Support Programme and the Punjab Education Support Programme II, DFID has also provided technical assistance to provincial governments to revise the school curriculum and remove discriminatory content from textbooks. Other work to promote tolerance and interfaith harmony includes: training nearly 100,000 teachers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab in equity and inclusion; funding the Alif Ailaan education campaign which focusses on religious minorities; and engaging with education civil society organisations to champion issues of inclusion and raise these with government.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the report of the Pakistani Minorities and Freedom of Religion or Belief  All-Party Parliamentary Group entitled, Religious Minorities of Pakistan: Report of a Parliamentary Visit, published on 9 September 2019.

Andrew Stephenson: We welcome the recent All-Party Parliamentary Group report which identifies a range of concerns facing religious minorities in Pakistan. These are important issues and the UK is committed to promoting inclusion and tolerance through our development aid in Pakistan. We regularly review how our assistance benefits poor and marginalised people in Pakistan, including those from religious minorities. Baroness Sugg and Lord Ahmad will be meeting with the Chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups for Pakistani minorities and International Freedom of Religion or Belief to discuss the report’s findings and consider what more can be done in the future.

Pakistan: Education

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if he will allocate additional funding for programmes in Pakistan to (a) educate school children from minority backgrounds, (b) institute a scheme of specialist educational scholarships for minority students and (c) provide professional training to adults from religious minority groups.

Andrew Stephenson: UK aid prioritises support for the poorest and most excluded people and communities in Pakistan regardless of race, religion, social background or nationality. DFID Pakistan is currently developing new education programmes and as part of this process we will actively consider what we can do to benefit these groups. Previous and current DFID programmes in Pakistan have supported senior secondary and higher education scholarships for children from minority groups in Punjab. The Alif Ailaan education campaign had a focus on religious minorities in regions such as Tharpakar, Badin, Multan, and Rahimyar Khan where the local campaigners have advocated for religious minorities and highlighted their issues to authorities at the district and provincial levels. Nearly 6,000 people from religious minorities have received training through the Punjab Skills Development Fund’s regular skill schemes, and the Fund is launching an exclusive skills scheme for religious minorities from January 2020. Under this scheme, a further 5,000 people from religious minorities (40% women) who are unemployed will be trained in a variety of trades that will lead to work. Lessons from this experience will help the Punjab Skills Development Fund further refine its interventions for minorities.

Department for International Development: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Department for International Development (DFID) employs around 3,500 staff, around 2,800 of whom are home civil servants. According to March 2019 data from the Annual Civil Service Employment Survey (ACSES), available publicly online, 1490 home civil service DFID staff have a known religion. Of these, 40 have identified as Muslim. This figure does not include ‘do not wish to declare’ responses. According to the ACSES survey, DFID’s reporting rate for religion or belief was 52.6% in March 2019. The ACSES provides published detail on the number of civil servants reporting their religion and ethnicity by department and by grade but not by the measures combined. We are therefore unable to provide published detail on the ethnicity of staff who declared as Muslim, or how many of these staff are employed at each grade.

Overseas Aid: Cost Effectiveness

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps he has taken to ensure value for money in Overseas Development Assistance.

Andrew Stephenson: Driving value for money in UK aid is critical to delivering the global goals, tackling extreme poverty and enhancing global security.DFID has robust controls and processes in place to ensure each pound spent improves poor people’s lives. Indeed, in a recent review from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (February 2018), which assessed DFID’s approach to Value for Money in programme and portfolio management, it was noted that DFID’s systems “improve the return on UK investment in aid”. It recognised DFID as “a global champion on value for money” and noted that “Value for money is fully embedded in our systems and processes.”While we know DFID deserves this praise, we also know we can always improve and are not complacent in our efforts to strengthen our approach. That is why we are seeking to develop a stronger approach to capturing the impact of our spend to ensure we deliver value for money across our portfolio.

Developing Countries: Disability

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to provide medical support to people with physical disabilities in developing countries.

Dr Andrew Murrison: DFID supports programmes to strengthen country health systems, in order to achieve universal health coverage and end preventable deaths by 2030. At the country level, we work with governments to prioritise meeting the needs of the poor and most vulnerable, including people with disabilities, so that they achieve better access to quality essential services without the risk of financial hardship. For example, DFID’s new flagship neglected tropical disease programme will also provide 100,000 operations to prevent or treat blindness caused by trachoma, plus provide operations and enable people to undertake self-led care to treat complications caused by lymphatic filariasis.

Developing Countries: Communications

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent steps he has taken to promote communications technology for development purposes.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID recognises that mobile phones can be a cost-effective, large-scale channel for delivering a range of services and socio-economic benefits. Indeed, mobile coverage is expanding dramatically with 5.1 billion mobile subscribers in 2018. In July 2019, DFID’s Mobile for Development programme was extended. This is a multisectoral partnership with the global mobile industry (via the Global System for Mobile Communications Association) that unlocks and scales mobile-enabled innovations to deliver against the Sustainable Development Goal targets. To date it has impacted the lives of over 20 million people – over 70% of whom are women – and has leveraged over £250m of additional (mostly private sector) funding. In partnership with mobile network operators, this programme delivers impact in key areas including digital inclusion for women and people with disabilities, expanding connectivity, mobile-enabled smart cities, water, sanitation and energy, and mobile-based tools for climate resilience. It has a cross-cutting agenda on inclusion and has developed tools to improve digital literacy that are being adopted by national regulators. The programme will achieve its aims through a combination of research and analysis, catalytic funding for innovation and targeted advocacy within the mobile and technology industry.

Department for International Development: Secondment

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to his oral evidence of 21 October 2019 to the International Development Committee, how many of the 160 departmental staff seconded to other Departments to help them administer official development assistance have their salaries paid by his Department.

Andrew Stephenson: DFID continues to pay 16 staff who are currently on loan to other government departments.

Gaza: Health Services

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that medical workers in Gaza can perform their humanitarian functions without risk of attack.

Dr Andrew Murrison: No medical workers anywhere in the world should be at risk of violence, including those assisting Palestinians injured during demonstrations. We regularly raise with the Government of Israel the importance of protecting civilians, including medical personnel, when responding to protests and the importance of adhering to the principles of necessity and proportionality.

International Assistance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure those responsible for attack on humanitarian workers overseas are held to account.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The primary responsibility for prosecuting those who attack humanitarian workers in any context lies with the relevant state authorities. In a conflict context, where the state authorities are unable or unwilling to do this, international accountability mechanisms may be invoked, as appropriate. The UK supports international mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court or ad hoc tribunals acting within their mandates when grave violations of international humanitarian law are suspected, and the state is genuinely unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute.

Palestinians: Health Professions

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussion he has had with representatives of the Israeli Government on the compliance with international standards of that Government's internal investigations into the killings of Palestinian health workers.

Dr Andrew Murrison: No health workers anywhere in the world should be at risk of violence, including those assisting Palestinians injured during demonstrations. We regularly raise with the Government of Israel the importance of protecting civilians, including medical personnel, when responding to protests. We welcome the Israeli authorities’ decision to conduct criminal investigations into eleven Palestinian deaths during recent protests and urge these to be transparent and, if wrongdoing is found, for those responsible to be held accountable.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals, what steps he is taking to maintain levels of investment in nutrition.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK Government has been a global leader on nutrition since we hosted the first Nutrition for Growth Summit in 2013. Earlier this month the Secretary of State for International Development committed to prioritise ending preventable deaths of mothers, new-born babies and children in the developing world by 2030. Addressing malnutrition is critical and central to this ambition. Improving nutrition in developing countries is also key for achieving at least 12 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2015 DFID has reached 60 million women, adolescent girls and young children with nutrition services – including lifesaving treatment for child wasting, support for breastfeeding and new crop varieties that are rich in essential nutrients. We are working with the Government of Japan to help prepare for the Nutrition for Growth Summit in December 2020. The Summit will be an important opportunity to set the world on the path towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target to end malnutrition in all its forms by 2030. We will be looking closely over the coming months at what further commitment the UK can make at the 2020 Summit to contribute to this important goal.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Nutrition

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps he is taking to ensure that nutrition is included in the UK’s commitment to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is the largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, committing £1.44 billion between 2016 and 2020. This support will vaccinate 76 million additional children by 2020, saving 1.4 million lives from vaccine-preventable diseases in 68 of the world’s poorest countries. The UK will host the pledging conference for Gavi in June 2020.DFID support to Gavi includes a wider package of health care support designed to strengthen and integrate services. Immunisation is often a child’s first point of contact with their health service. It creates an opportunity where malnourished children can be identified and treated. Vaccines can also prevent some of the infectious diseases and causes of malnutrition.The UK is committed to investment in the integration of nutrition within other sectors, including health. We have championed efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage by bringing together initiatives on health security, antimicrobial resistance, and nutrition, into a single Universal Health Coverage approach.

Ethiopia: Nutrition

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to integrate nutrition into its health programmes in Ethiopia.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK is a leading donor supporting the Government of Ethiopia to integrate nutrition into health programmes in Ethiopia.Under the Accelerating Reduction of Undernutrition in Ethiopia programme (£49m, 2013-2018), we supported the transition of service delivery for nutrition screening, Vitamin A supplementation and deworming from resource-intensive donor-financed campaign-based delivery, into fully government funded routine service delivery in the four regions with the highest rates of stunting in Ethiopia.DFID continues to support the Government of Ethiopia in delivering nutrition programmes as part of routine heath service delivery. Currently the Sustaining and Accelerating Primary Health in Ethiopia programme (£250m,2015-2020) is supporting the first 1000+ days nutrition initiative, the provision of micronutrient supplies and implementation of the Seqota declaration. This aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture in the worst affected parts of the country. Our Building Resilience in Ethiopia Programme (£262m, 2017-2022) is also working to respond to nutrition emergencies, reducing reliance on parallel humanitarian response.

Developing Countries: Nutrition

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that his Department's education programmes include objectives on nutrition.

Andrew Stephenson: Helping poor countries provide 12 years of good quality education, particularly for girls, is a top priority for this Government. When children get all the basic nutrients they need in the first 1000 days of life, they do better in school and earn more as adults. DFID’s 2018 education policy commits us to delivering early education and nutrition interventions together, where possible. We are pursuing this by building the evidence base through the new ‘Thrive’ early childhood development research programme and through investments in early education in Rwanda and our funding to the Global Partnership for Education. The UK Government is a global leader on nutrition; we have reached 60.3 million people with nutrition services in 25 countries since 2015.

Libya: Violence

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment he has made of the humanitarian situation in Libya since the upsurge in violence in that country resulting in the displacement of civilians.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK remains deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict in Libya and the worsening humanitarian situation. The fighting around Tripoli has claimed over 1,000 lives and led to over 120,000 displaced, with concerning reports of airstrikes in civilian areas and increasing attacks on civilian infrastructure. It is vital that all sides engage in a durable ceasefire, ensure humanitarian access, and return to UN-led political talks. The UK is calling on all parties to engage with the UN and humanitarian community, and respect International Humanitarian Law. Aid must be allowed to reach those in need and civilians, including refugees and migrants, must be evacuated to safety. The UK funds a £3.29 million humanitarian programme to provide multi-sector humanitarian assistance to vulnerable people in Libya, improve access to primary health care, build capacity of health care workers, and bolster humanitarian coordination and capability. Earlier this year £1 million was given to the UN Flash Appeal. Funding to the World Health Organisation will deliver lifesaving medical care, including surgery in frontline referral hospitals, and primary healthcare supplies for 150,000 patients. Funding to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will provide an expert to negotiate improved humanitarian access for agencies delivering aid on-the-ground.

Department for Education

Dyslexia: Research

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the research by the Driver Youth Trust on teachers and headteachers views on the usefulness and validity of the term dyslexia.

Michelle Donelan: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not made any formal assessment of the implications of this research.The department has made a big difference to support for pupils with dyslexia through our clear focus on literacy, particularly the use of phonics, and improving initial teacher training and continuing professional development for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). We have also provided substantial investment in additional training and resources for the school workforce, including materials relating to autism, dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties.The SEND Reforms introduced the ‘plan, do, review’ graduated approach for pupils on SEND support so that teachers have a focus on ensuring that pupils have the right support to reach their full potential.We recently announced significant extra funding for children and young people with more complex needs. As part of our school funding package, which will provide an extra £14 billion over the next 3 years, we are increasing high needs funding by £780 million next year, which is an increase of 12% on the amount available this year. This brings the total to be spent on supporting those with the most complex needs to £7.2 billion.Although this additional funding will help, we recognise that more needs to be done to ensure this investment is working as well as it can for young people and that we have a sustainable SEND system in future. That is why the government recently announced a review of SEND.

Schools: Fire Extinguishers

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations he has received on the merits of mandatory installation of fire sprinklers in all (a) new and (b) refurbished schools in England; and if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make such installation mandatory.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will request assessments from the (a) Scottish and (b) Welsh governments on the potential effect of requiring compulsory installation of fire sprinklers in (i) new and (ii) refurbished schools in Scotland and Wales; and if he will publish an assessment of the potential benefits of such legislation in England.

Nick Gibb: Earlier this year, a Call for Evidence was held on the review of the Department’s Building Bulletin 100: ‘Design for Fire Safety in Schools’. This included questions on fire suppression systems, such as sprinklers. The responses have been analysed and follow up technical studies are being carried out by consultants. Until this work is completed, the Department’s policy on installing sprinklers in schools remains unchanged.As part of this review, Department officials will be liaising further with their counterparts in Scotland and Wales on the impact of requiring sprinkler installation in new and refurbished school buildings.

Children in Care

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will provide The Share Foundation with support in identifying young people who would benefit from the Stepladder of Achievement programme; and if he will make a statement.

Michelle Donelan: We recognise the importance of care leavers being well prepared to deal with the challenges of living independently at a young age, which includes having good budgeting skills. Care leavers have to be more independent and resilient than young people who live with their parents. My officials will contact the Share Foundation to discuss their request in more detail.

Apprentices: Taxation

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will ensure that unused apprenticeship levy funding is devolved to (a) the West of England combined authority and (b) other local authorities to respond to local needs.

Michelle Donelan: The apprenticeship levy and funding arrangements are an important part of our changes to raise apprenticeship quality, supporting employers to make a long-term sustainable investment in training. Employers’ levy funds are distinct from the Department for Education’s ring-fenced annual apprenticeship budget. The funding available in 2019-20 for investment in apprenticeships in England is over £2.5 billion, double what was spent in 2010-11. This fixed budget covers the costs of all apprenticeships, new apprenticeships in both levy-paying employers and those that do not pay the levy, and existing apprenticeships for those who started in previous years. The budget is not affected by the value of levy funds expiring from employers’ accounts each month. We have never anticipated that all levy-payers will use all the funds available to them, but they are able to if they wish. Individual employers already have control over where apprenticeship funds are spent to meet their current and future skills needs. Transfers to other employers can support local skills needs and help sectors build sustainable capability for the future. Combined authorities, including the West of England combined authority, sector bodies and Local Enterprise Partnerships can work with employers to encourage more effective use of their uncommitted levy funds. We are pleased to see that levy payers with uncommitted funds are increasingly using transfers to support apprenticeship starts in non-levy paying employers.

Universities: Racial Discrimination

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to protect university staff from racial abuse.

Chris Skidmore: Racial harassment is unacceptable, and we cannot tolerate staff and students being victims of it at our world-leading universities. There is no place in our society - including within higher education – for hatred or any form of harassment, discrimination or racism. Universities have clear responsibilities in this regard.Higher education providers are independent and autonomous organisations. Like all employers, higher education providers have responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010) in relation to their staff. We expect them discharge their responsibilities fully and have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law, and to investigate and swiftly address all hate crime.We encourage providers to make use of tools such as the Race Equality Charter and the Race at Work Charter to identify and address institutional and cultural barriers that affect minority ethnic staff and students. The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers recognises the need to create and develop positive environments and cultures in which all researchers can flourish and achieve their full potential. This includes having effective policies and practice for tackling discrimination, bullying and harassment and providing appropriate support for those reporting issues.By improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff within higher education we can ensure that everyone who has the potential to thrive at university, both as a student and as a member of staff, does so.

Pupils: Sanitary Protection

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Spring Statement 2019, what the timeframe is for the roll-out of free sanitary products in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools and (c) further education colleges.

Michelle Donelan: Evidence suggests that some learners in England may be missing education due to difficulties in managing their periods. Periods should not be a barrier to education for any learner, and the department is introducing this scheme to help state-funded primary and secondary schools and 16-19 institutions respond to the needs of learners in the way that is most appropriate to their circumstances.Nationwide rollout of this scheme to all state-funded primary and secondary schools and 16-19 institutions will take place in early 2020. To help state-funded primary and secondary schools and 16-19 institutions implement the scheme, the department will publish guidance later this year.

Apprentices: Taxation

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether unspent apprenticeship levy monies returned to his Department are allocated to the apprenticeship budget for use by non-levy paying employers.

Michelle Donelan: The funds in apprenticeship service accounts are available for levy-paying employers to use for 24 months before they begin to expire on a rolling, month-by-month basis. We have never anticipated that levy-payers will use all the funds available to them, but they are able to if they wish. Individual levy-paying employers have full control over when and where apprenticeship funds are spent to meet their current and future skills needs.Employers’ levy funds are distinct from the Department for Education’s ring-fenced annual apprenticeship budget. This budget is set on an annual basis to cover the costs of all apprenticeships. This includes new apprenticeships in both levy-paying employers and those that do not pay the levy, as well as existing apprenticeships for learners who started in previous years. As this budget is distinct from the funds in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts, it is not affected by the value of any funds which may expire from employers’ accounts each month.

Children in Care

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked-after children were in children's homes (a) in borough and (b) out of borough during the year for each year since 2015.

Michelle Donelan: The latest figures on looked-after children by placement and placement location are published in Table A2 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018.The statistics on looked-after children in 2018/2019 will be released in December 2019. The exact date of publication will be announced here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/looked-after-children-in-england-year-ending-31-march-2019.

Education: Animal Welfare

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce education in schools to promote responsible dog ownership.

Nick Gibb: There are no plans to introduce responsible dog ownership into the curriculum for schools. The Government has committed to no further changes to the National Curriculum this Parliament. Schools have the autonomy to teach responsible pet ownership if they wish to.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Jainism and Zoroastrianism

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when representatives of the (a) Jain and (b) Zoroastrian community were invited to national events organised by his Department in each of the last two years.

Lucy Frazer: The Jain and Zoroastrian communities of this country have made, and continue to make a positive contribution to life in the United Kingdom. The Government values this contribution enormously.When hosting events related to faith and belief, we welcome those from all faith or beliefs or non-belief to participate, including those who identify as Jain and Zoroastrian. In the last two years these included:- an annual Diwali celebration with involvement and engagement from Jain staff;- Faith and Belief Forums hosted in 2018 which provided an opportunity for all staff to discuss what more can be done to improve the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) experience for all staff of faith/belief and non-faith/belief;- panel discussions during National Inclusion Week 2018 and 2019 where support for people of faith was discussed alongside other protected characteristics; and- events hosted by our various Faith Networks, which are open to all staff regardless of their faith or belief.Representatives of the Jain and Zoroastrian faith groups, together with representatives from other faith traditions, were invited to meet Dr Jo Farrar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) on 14 October 2019 to discuss prison chaplaincy work and future meetings with them both are envisaged to discuss the needs for their particular faiths.

Television: Licensing

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what number and proportion of committal orders made by Magistrates’ Courts in England and Wales for default of payment of fines have arisen from a TV licence evasion conviction in each year since 1995.

Chris Philp: This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Legal Aid Agency: Standards

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what targets the Legal Aid Agency sets for its staff.

Wendy Morton: The Legal Aid Agency’s operational targets are set in the form of Strategic Objectives and Key Performance Indicators. To support the delivery of these, caseworkers at the LAA aim to work within “Time Standards”, which reflect the ‘average processing times’ for each casework element. As part of performance monitoring, Decision Makers are assessed in terms of both output and quality, with reference to the amount of work they would be expected to complete.

Prisons: Fires

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 550 on Prisons: Fires, what information his Department holds on fire related events in prison.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 550 on Prisons: Fires, why the number of referrals for fire related events in prison is not held centrally.

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2019 to Question 550 on Prisons: Fires, where the information on referrals for fire-related events in prison is held.

Lucy Frazer: The department records all fires in prison on an electronic national database that comprises information specific to the circumstances surrounding each individual event. As part of this, prison fire-related referrals to the police are recorded and are held centrally by HMPPS. However, as confirmed in the response to 550, Crown Prosecution Service referrals are not held centrally by HMPPS because such referrals are made by the police. The requested data may, therefore, be held by individual police forces.

Prison Officers: Long Service Awards

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many long service medals have been awarded in each of the last five years to prison officers; what the cost was of awarding each medal; and if he will make a statement.

Lucy Frazer: The number of operational prison staff in public sectors prisons who were awarded Prison Services (operational duties) Long Service & Good Conduct medals in each of the last 5 years is shown in the table below.  Number of operational prison staff who received a long service medal20158412016415201760320188282019 (up to 30/09/2019)523Includes operational prison staff from Band 2 to Band 11 Prison Services (operational duties) Long Service & Good Conduct Medals are manufactured by the Royal Mint at a cost of £27 (+VAT) per medal. These medals recognise the loyalty, commitment and unique role of operational prison staff in the United Kingdom prison services.

Prison Service: Staff

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) people in operational support grades, (b) prison officers, (c) senior officers and supervising officers and (d) principal officers and custodial managers served in HM prisons in each year since 2000.

Lucy Frazer: The number of band 2 operational support grade staff and band 3 to 5 prison officers employed in HM prisons each year is provided in the table below. Staff in post data is only held since April 2002. Table 1: Band 2 operational support grade staff and band 3-5 prison officers in post (FTE), in Public Sector prisons1, as at 30 June 2002-20192. Full time equivalentDateBand 2 / Operational SupportBands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists)Band 4 / Supervising OfficerBand 5 / Custodial Managers30-Jun-026,73617,9113,5881,19230-Jun-037,27818,3563,6471,23430-Jun-047,51418,7583,7111,22830-Jun-057,22418,9053,7421,17530-Jun-067,36019,1743,7911,16630-Jun-077,58819,4163,8441,18230-Jun-088,01419,6503,9641,22330-Jun-097,79720,1023,9411,17930-Jun-107,62119,8373,77690230-Jun-117,29319,5633,51075930-Jun-126,84618,4063,29161830-Jun-136,10517,0832,2241,38130-Jun-144,92214,6231,8471,31830-Jun-154,75214,9881,9051,30830-Jun-164,75314,5562,0151,30730-Jun-174,47415,2831,9041,33430-Jun-184,62318,0211,8981,41430-Jun-194,66218,5351,9181,543 Notes1. Includes staff who were employed in HM prisons only and does not include those based in HQ, such as officers who are on detached duty with no fixed location, POELT trainers, or staff redeploying from closing establishments who are allocated to an area office in the HR database before being reallocated to a prison in the database.2. The Ministry of Justice does not centrally hold any data on HMPPS staff before 2002.

Young Offenders: Minority Groups

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding has been spent on projects aimed at (a) improving data on racial disparities within the justice system, (b) improving judicial diversity, (c) conducting academic research on methods for reducing racial disparities and (d) reducing racial disparities in the youth justice estate, in each year since the publication of the Lammy Review in September 2017.

Wendy Morton: Efforts to better understand and tackle racial disparity in the Criminal Justice system are typically resourced as part of the mainstream responsibilities for Ministry of Justice and partner organisations, without dedicated budget(s). As such we have not been able to isolate the spend requested. Some additional commentary follows. On a) per Government’s response to David Lammy’s review of the treatment of BAME people in the CJS, we remain committed to publishing more and better data to inform us on issues of racial disparity in the criminal justice system. On b) Ministry of Justice is funding a three year programme, the Pre-Application Judicial Education programme, to support improving judicial diversity at a cost of £300,000 over financial years 2018/19 to 2020/21. The Judicial Appointments Commission also lead on initiatives to support diversity in the judiciary including outreach events. On c) as a matter of course our work on tackling racial disparities engages with academics and their research. On d) we have taken a range of steps to integrate activity to reduce racial disparities within the youth custodial estate in to the work of establishments and to drive improvements. This includes having dedicated equalities staff in Youth Offender Institutions and Secure Training Centres. We also have specific members of staff based at head-quarters, both within the Ministry of Justice and the Youth Custody Service, who consider the needs of BAME children, develop and implement improvement initiatives and feed into wider policy and delivery work. Examples include, the appointment of a Senior Policy Advisor: BAME Development lead to help address Recommendations 28 and 29 of the Lammy Review, on the recruitment of BAME staff; the YCS mandating the take-up of unconscious bias training for senior managers across public sector establishments, the commissioning and introduction of ‘debiasing training’ for key staff; and the inclusion of a problem-solving approach to complaints (Lammy Review Recommendation 27) in the new Youth Custody Service framework for behaviour support.

Criminal Proceedings

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average number of adjournments is per case in (a) all cases heard in the criminal courts and (b) cases relating to (i) murder, (ii) rape (iii) sexual assault, (iv) burglary and (v) crimes against the person in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp: The information requested about the number of adjournments per case in all cases in the (a) the Criminal Courts and (b) relating to (i) murder, (ii) rape, (iii) sexual assault, (iv) burglary and (v) crimes against the person each year since 2010 could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Ministry of Justice: Consultants

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has been spent on consultancies by (a) his Department and (b) HMCTS in each of the last 12 months.

Chris Philp: MoJ & HMCTS spending on consultancies in the last 12 months is as follows  All Consultancy Suppliers, All MoJAll Consultancy Suppliers, HMCTS OnlySep-18£657,643.71£560,025.74Oct-18£ 2,720,073.51£ 2,509,157.42Nov-18£ 3,303,902.50£ 2,754,705.49Dec-18£ 1,932,961.45£ 1,768,912.45Jan-19£ 826,620.80£ 753,599.80Feb-19£ 731,940.55£ 48,755.00Mar-19£ 2,482,758.97£ 2,292,766.92Apr-19£ 2,079,137.53£ 1,677,992.05May-19£ 1,551,874.13£ 1,052,152.70Jun-19£ 326,955.16£ 158,923.48Jul-19£ 1,150,230.51£ 979,392.51Aug-19£ 339,143.25£ 80,554.97Total£ 18,103,242.07£ 14,636,938.53

Criminal Proceedings

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many cases have been adjourned in (a) magistrates courts and (b) crown courts in each of the last 12 months.

Chris Philp: The number of adjourned cases in the magistrates’ and Crown Court fluctuates from month to month and is dependent upon the volume and type of cases received and the plea entered.The information requested about the number of cases which have been adjourned in (a) magistrate’s courts and (b) crown courts in each of the last 12 months can be found in the tables below.Magistrates Court (12 months available for published statistics.)  Jul-18Aug-18Sep-18Oct-18Nov-18Dec-18Jan-19Feb-19Mar-19Apr-19May-19Jun-19No of cases52,90351,01248,01253,72849,62140,80453,67146,38948,88148,84451,14347,813 Source: HMCTS Management InformationData Notes:- Data are taken from a live management information system and can change over time.- Data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics.- The data provided is the most recent available and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information.- The data provided is a count of Cases Heard, rather than DefendantsThe data supplied includes cases which were Adjourned, Remanded in Custody/On Bail or Remitted for a further hearing as well as cases originally listed under the Single Justice Procedure which were subsequently adjourned for a Summons to be issued for a Court Hearing (SUMRTH & SUMRTO).- Where a Case is Adjourned in different months then each Adjournment is counted once in each month. Crown Court (12 months available for published statistics.) Jul-18Aug-18Sep-18Oct-18Nov-18Dec-18Jan-19Feb-19Mar-19Apr-19May-19Jun-19No of cases14,05913,54113,02013,94613,68311,02113,52912,47213,38313,20413,96712,545 Source: HMCTS Management InformationData Notes:- Data are taken from a live management information system and can change over time.- Data are management information and are not subject to the same level of checks as official statistics.- The data provided is the most recent available and for that reason might differ slightly from any previously published information.- A hearing has been counted as adjourned where the data field is adjourned and has been marked as 'Y'- If a case is adjourned in different months each adjournment is counted for each month.- If a case involves more than one defendant and only one has their case adjourned then it has been counted in the above figures.Data has not been cross referenced with case files.

British Nationals Abroad: Homicide

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that families whose loved ones are murdered abroad have access to criminal injuries compensation.

Wendy Morton: The Ministry of Justice is committed to ensuring effective support to families bereaved by murder and manslaughter. To ensure that these families are appropriately supported, whether the homicide takes place at home or abroad, we have provided up to £3.4m per annum in funding to deliver the Homicide Service. Families bereaved by violent crime can access the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme where the crime was committed in Great Britain, or the Victims of Overseas Terrorism Compensation Scheme where the crime was a terrorist attack committed overseas. Further, where the crime was committed in an EU member state, it may be possible for families to access any compensation scheme that the member state has under the EU Compensation Directive or the Council of Europe Convention on Compensation for Victims of Violent Crime. A review of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is underway, looking at its scope, and eligibility rules and requirements. The recommendations of the Victims’ Commissioner in her report on the entitlements and experiences of bereaved families following homicide abroad will be considered carefully as part of this review.

Prison Officers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prison officers worked at each prison in (a) 2010 and (b) 2019.

Lucy Frazer: The number of band 3-5 prison officers employed in each prison is provided in the accompanying excel file. Data is provided as at 30 June 2010 and 2019. Since 2010, 21 prisons have closed and one prison has transferred to private sector operation, which has an impact on the figures. In addition, 3 establishments (HMP The Wolds, HMP Birmingham and Medway Secure Training Centre) have transferred to public sector operation.

Family Courts: Legal Representation

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents had no representation at a family court case relating to a child in each year since 2010.

Wendy Morton: The number of unrepresented parents in private law Children Act cases is shown in the table below. Since 2015, we have invested almost £8 million in a support strategy for unrepresented parties. This provides practical support and information as well as routes to free or more affordable legal advice. Public funding remains available for parents in public law Children Act proceedings where a local authority seeks an order to place a child in care or under its supervision, and in private law Children Act cases where there is evidence of domestic or child abuse. Additionally, we announced in the Legal Support Action Plan in February 2019 that we are providing a further £3m of funding over the next two years to enhance support for litigants in person, ensuring those representing themselves in court understand the process and are better supported through it. The total number of private law cases started and the number applicants and respondents who had no representation in these cases from 2011 to 2018.Year Total number of cases started5Cases with at least one hearing5 Unrepresented Applicants Unrepresented Respondents   ParentOther3Unknown4Total ParentOther3Unknown4Total 2011  49,067  45,907  10,2292,56129613,086 19,1341,2515,51225,897 2012  52,062  49,157  11,5862,52534014,451 21,1221,2436,34328,708 2013  54,624  51,846  17,0053,41457920,998 28,2091,4569,70339,368 2014  42,114  39,776  16,7543,18382920,766 21,8239079,16531,895 2015  43,347  41,435  18,5552,96993922,463 23,6861,0328,16132,879 2016  48,246  46,258  21,8743,0931,07726,044 26,6721,1618,53136,364 2017  50,652  48,635  24,0613,30793128,299 30,3221,1806,85438,356 2018  51,671  49,602  24,9003,1641,04129,105 30,1011,1417,70338,945Notes:  1) No representation is determined by the field 'legal representation' in Familyman being left blank. Therefore, this is only a proxy measure and parties without a recorded representative are not necessarily self-representing litigants in person. 2) In this instance 'at least one hearing' refers to non-vacated scheduled hearings, rather than actual hearings that have taken place. 3) 'Other' can refer to Grandparents, Step-Parents, Special Guardians or Children. 4) 'Unknown' relations to child can occur in cases where relation to child is not requested (e.g. if the applicant or respondent is a local authority) This is the case for 3% of applicants and 23% of respondents given in the table. 5) 'Total number of cases started' and 'Cases with at least one hearing' are included only for additional context and will include hearings with represented parties. 6) The central data system FamilyMan was fully rolled out by the end of 2010 and so any data prior to this in FamilyMan is not complete and not shown in this table  6) The central data system FamilyMan was fully rolled out by the end of 2010 and so any data prior to this in FamilyMan is not complete and not shown in this table

Non-molestation Orders: Legal Aid Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of domestic violence were refused legal aid when applying for a non-molestation order in each year since 2010.

Wendy Morton: YEARAPPLICATIONSOF WHICH REFUSED2010-201111,649352011-201210,520142012-201311,495252013-201415,261682014-201514,1201312015-201613,4621322016-201713,2542352017-201813,4073072018-201913,225406 Figures are based on the volume of applications made rather than the number of discrete individuals. One person may make more than one application for legal aid. Applications for legal aid when requesting a non-molestation orders will only be rejected when a court is unlikely to grant an order, (for instance where other help and support is already in place), or where an applicant does not supply sufficient information.

Immigration: Appeals

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average waiting time from the receipt of an appeal to the hearing was in first-tier tribunals in each year since 2010.

Chris Philp: Waiting times for First-tier Tribunals (Immigration and Asylum Chamber, Employment Tribunal and Social Security and Child Support) are published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold this information centrally for all First-tier Tribunals and this could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Legal Opinion: Parents and Carers

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans his Department has for the future funding of independent legal advice for (a) parents and (b) kinship carers involved in the child welfare and family justice system after April 2020.

Wendy Morton: In the Legal Support Action plan published in February 2019 the Government committed to increase the scope for legal aid in family law cases to cover all Special Guardianship Orders in private family law cases; and removing the means test for those with parental responsibility to oppose placement or adoption orders in family law proceedings. To support those with family law problems who are not in scope for Legal Aid the government is doubling the funding for the Litigants in Person Support Strategy to £3m for the next two years, to ensure those representing themselves in court understand the process and are better supported through it.

Prison Officers

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what ratio-based calculation is used by his Department to determine the necessary number of prison officers.

Lucy Frazer: During periods of when prisoners are unlocked from their cell, the number of staff on each residential unit will be, in part determined by ‘Safe, Decent and Secure Operating Levels’ (SDSOLs) which are agreed in each establishment. A number of factors influence SDSOLs such as design and size of a residential unit, and specialist function or prisoner cohort. In addition to the SDSOLs, prison officers are being recruited across England and Wales as part of the Offender Management in Custody model (OMiC) - a vital part of our work to make prisons safer - and to support youth justice reform. We have invested significantly in increase staff numbers, recruiting an additional 4,366 (full time equivalent) prison officers between October 2016 and June 2019, surpassing our original target of 2,500. The majority of newly recruited prison officers are already on the landings and the recruitment drive will continue until we reach required levels across the prison estate, ensuring prisons can fulfil their purpose - protecting the public, rehabilitating offenders and crucially, reducing reoffending.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of assaults on prison officers by prisoners resulted in a prosecution in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: Detailed information on the proportion of assaults on prison staff since 2010 is held on court record but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.We take violence against our staff very seriously. We have invested in 5,600 Body Worn Video Cameras (BWVC) across the prison estate which has been rolled out alongside training in staff interaction with prisoners, to support better relationships. We have also begun implementation for a national rollout of PAVA, a synthetic pepper spray, which will provide prison officers with additional safety equipment to reduce the risk of serious injury. Staff will be able to use the PAVA spray where there is serious violence or an imminent or perceived risk of it and there is an immediate necessity to create a safe and protective environment. Only prisons who have rolled out the key worker scheme – which is vital in building relationships between offenders and staff – will receive PAVA. Alongside the rollout of PAVA will be the introduction of a new Personal Safety package; (S.P.E.A.R.). This is to ensure that PAVA is introduced as part of a wider package of skills for staff to resolve and deescalate incidents. The training is based on using the body’s natural flinch reaction when faced with danger and focuses on pre-contact cues to give staff greater awareness of their surroundings. We are also rolling out rigid bar handcuffs to prison officers as part of our continued focus on improving safety and reducing violence.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of successful prosecutions for assaults by prisoners on prison officers resulted in a (a) concurrent sentence and (b) consecutive sentence in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: Detailed information on the proportion of successful prosecutions for assaults by prisoners on prison officers that resulted in a (a) concurrent sentence and (b) consecutive sentence since 2010 is held on court record but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many successful prosecutions for assaults on prison officers by prisoners on resulted in a sentence of (a) of less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months and (d) more than 12 months in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: Detailed information on how many successful prosecutions for assaults on prison officers by prisoners that resulted in a sentence of (a) of less than one month, (b) between one and three months, (c) between three and six months and (d) more than 12 months since 2010 is held on court record but to be able to identify these cases we would have to access individual court records which would be of disproportionate cost.

Department for International Trade

Arms Trade: Saudi Arabia

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the Government's policy is on arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make it her policy to suspend the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia.

Graham Stuart: All arms sales are subject to export licensing. The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, last updated in a Written Ministerial Statement on 25 March 2014, remains the policy for assessing all licence applications. The Court of Appeal judgment of 20 June 2019 placed the Government under an obligation not to grant any new licences to export items to Saudi Arabia for possible use in the conflict in Yemen. The Court remitted the decision whether to grant export licences for the sale or transfer of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia for possible use in the conflict in Yemen to the Secretary of State for International Trade to re-take on the correct legal basis. Work is underway on the process of retaking decisions in accordance with the Order of the Court of Appeal.

Department for International Trade: Jainism and Zoroastrianism

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when representatives of the (a) Jain and (b) Zoroastrian community were invited to national events organised by her Department in each of the last two years.

Conor Burns: The Department for International Trade has held many business events in each of the last two years, to support businesses to trade internationally, to promote the UK as a leading destination for foreign investment and to promote the message of free trade. Attendees were invited based on their relevance to these objectives, and focused primarily on business, diplomatic, and policy representatives as well as organisations representing civil society, particularly those that reflected interests across consumer, trade union, academia, regional and devolved areas. Attendees were not invited on the basis of representing religious or cultural communities.

Foreign Investment in UK

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, which Departments she has directed to be responsible for attracting foreign direct investment.

Graham Stuart: As outlined in the Explanatory Note accompanying the Prime Minister’s Written Ministerial Statement on Machinery of Government changes laid on 18 July 2016, the Department for International Trade is responsible for ‘both inward and outward investment enabling the Government to take a more strategic approach to how both can contribute to UK prosperity and serve the nation’s long-term economic aims’.

Whisky: Scotland

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the contribution of the Scotch whisky industry to the UK's food and drink exports.

Conor Burns: Scotch whisky is a significant contributor to the UK’s overall food and drink exports. In 2018, whisky exports reached a record £4.8bn, representing over 21% of total food and drink exports. This is an increase of 9.1% on 2017. The largest export market, USA, recorded export sales of £1.06bn, an increase of 12.4%.

Arms Trade: Turkey

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many extant (a) single individual export licences and (b) open individual export licences there are for which the end-user is Turkey; and if she will make it her policy to suspend them.

Graham Stuart: As of 25 October, there are a) 504 Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) [of which 331 include military rated items] and; b) 95 Open Individual Export Licences (OIELs) [of which 64 include military rated items] that are extant for which Turkey is the end user. We continue to monitor the situation in Syria very closely and are considering the licensing position in the light of recent developments. No further export licences to Turkey for items which might be used in military operations in Syria will be granted while we do so.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Housing: Energy

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government plans to take to improve the energy performance of owner-occupied dwellings.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 24 October 2019



On 1 October the government launched a consultation on stronger building regulations that will pave the way for the Future Homes Standard. These 2020 changes aim to improve the environment by cutting carbon emissions in new homes by almost a third, while keeping household bills low.

Buildings: Insulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to provide financial support to leaseholders of properties with flammable cladding that are under 18 metres in height.

Esther McVey: Government intervention to provide £600 million funding for the removal on unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on high-rise (over 18 metres) buildings is wholly exceptional. It is based on the unparalleled fire risk ACM poses, very real public safety concerns and the abject failure of many building owners to do the right thing by their residents. We are focusing on buildings over 18 metres as they are subject to tougher buildings restrictions, as set out in Approved Document B, including restrictions on the types of material that can be used on external wall systems. The Department is currently reviewing Approved Document B, and this guidance is currently out for consultation. Government intervention does not remove responsibility for overall building safety from the building owner and if fire safety risks are uncovered, they must remedy them.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of owners of private blocks over 18 metres in height that have paid for dangerous cladding to be replaced in (a) London and (b) the UK.

Esther McVey: We will publish the number of buildings where the building owner has agreed to pay for remediation in future Data Releases.We are pleased to report that many owners and developers, including Taylor Wimpey, Legal and General, Mace Group, Lendlease, Barratt Developments and Aberdeen Standard Investments, have agreed to maintain their commitments to fund the remediation of unsafe Aluminium Composite Material cladding.

High Rise Flats: Fire Extinguishers

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Answer of 2 July 2019 to Question 270343 on Fire Extinguishers, whether his Department's report referenced in that Answer includes the cost of installing sprinkler systems in new buildings.

Esther McVey: Yes, the second paragraph from the executive summary states the following:“This Final work stream report describes the findings of the research for Work stream 5 – Sprinkler provisions. The guidance in Approved Document B (AD B) currently provides that most buildings over 30 m tall should have sprinkler protection with the exception of purpose groups: 2(a) – residential (institutional), 2(b) – residential (other) and 7(b) – (car parks). The principal aim of this work stream was to produce robust evidence and data to explore the options for fire sprinklers in tall buildings above 30 m not currently requiring sprinklers.”Please note that, since July the Department has published a consultation which outlines the government’s intention to amend Approved Document B to reduce the trigger height at which sprinkler systems would be required in new high-rise blocks of flats and asks for views on the trigger height options. The consultation is available at the following and closes on 28 November 2019: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/sprinklers-and-other-fire-safety-measures-in-new-high-rise-blocks-of-flats.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many building owners of blocks over 18 metres in height with ACM cladding in the UK have begun the process of removal and repair work since May 2019.

Esther McVey: Remediation progress for buildings with Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems in England, including buildings where remediation has started since May 2019 can be found in Figure 1 of the latest Building Safety Programme Monthly Data Release. This can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-september-2019 .

Buildings: Insulation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department will publish the report on the wider testing of non-ACM cladding materials used on buildings in the UK.

Esther McVey: Acting on advice from the Expert Panel, the government has commissioned research from the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to support further understanding of the fire performance of Non-Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) external wall systems. The Department has commissioned the BRE to undertake bespoke tests on timber cladding panels as part of the ongoing Non-ACM research. The research findings will be published before the end of Autumn.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff of his Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements his Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.

Jake Berry: None of the Department’s directly employed staff are paid less than the hourly rate of pay determined by the London Living Wage.Information on rates of pay for people working for the Department’s third-party contractors is not held centrally. Rates of pay for people working for third-party contractors are determined by their respective employers and not held by the Department.

Housing: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of homes in England that have been valued at £0 as a result of surveyors being unable to confirm that (a) cladding and (b) insulation in those homes was not flammable.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 24 October 2019



Ministers are aware of these issues and the department is working at pace to find solutions. Officials are supporting the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and wider industry to improve, for example, the process through which building owners share relevant information with lenders to provide reassurance.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's data release entitled Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release for August 2019 published on 12 September 2019, how many of the 1,494 non-ACM cladding samples held at the Building Research Establishment contain combustible materials.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The screening programme set up after the Grenfell fire tragedy was focussed on identifying and the types of aluminium composite materials received. 1,421 samples of other materials were also submitted but these were not suitable for the screening tests. A detailed explanation of the screening tests is set out in this note published in June 2017. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-safety-checks-and-testing.The non-Aluminuim Composite Materials (ACM) samples were catalogued but it is not possible given their size and condition to reliably identify and classify each sample. These samples would not provide reliable or representative indication of the materials currently present on the existing building stock, this is because only those buildings with ACM cladding systems were asked to submit samples.I refer also to my answer of 24 January to question UIN 210599.

Buildings: Safety

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to present his legislative proposals on safety standards to Parliament in the form of a draft Bill.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to bring forward his legislative proposals on building safety standards.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



This government is committed to bringing forward legislation that delivers meaningful and lasting change at the earliest opportunity.Our consultation, Building a Safer Future: proposals for reform of the building safety regulatory system, closed on 31 July 2019, and we will be providing a response by the end of this year. A decision on whether the Bill will be published in draft will be taken in due course.We are not waiting for legislation to begin reforming the system – we are acting now to fix existing problems, trial new approaches and encourage industry to lead the necessary culture change. In his statement to the House on 5 September (Official Report, column 372), my Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State updated the House, reporting on our progress in a range of areas.

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the feedback from (a) the expert panel on building safety and (b) other organisations that his Department consulted on whether Advice Note 14 on external wall systems that do not incorporate aluminium composite material should be revised.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



Advice Note 14 was published for Building Owners to take appropriate action to ensure their buildings are safe. The Department has received representations from industry seeking clarification on Advice Note 14. These representations are being considered in conjunction with the Independent Expert Advisory Panel.

Housing: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has received representations on mortgage lenders and building insurers requiring additional information due to Government Advice Note 14 on external wall systems that do not incorporate Aluminium Composite Material.

Esther McVey: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The Department has received correspondence from individuals looking to sell, buy or remortgage properties in some high-rise residential blocks highlighting that lenders are requesting additional information about the external wall system of the building. Building owners should share relevant information and professional reports with lenders to assist in their lending decisions.

Slavery: Monuments

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking help ensure that Memorial 2007 has the necessary funding required before November 2019.

Jake Berry: We carefully consider each request for funding. Memorial 2007 approached MHCLG last year and unfortunately the Department was unable to provide support at that time. We are supportive of the aims of the monument and the organisation. The suffering caused by slavery and the slave trade is among the most dishonourable and abhorrent chapters in human history. The International Slavery Museum in Liverpool is an example of a memorial that educates citizens about this dark time in our shared history.

Stronger Towns Fund

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish (a) the full selection methodology used to allocate monies from the Stronger Towns Fund and (b) the score awarded to each applicant.

Jake Berry: Towns were chosen on the basis of a robust selection methodology. This took into account various qualitative and quantitative indicators including income deprivation, skills, productivity, EU exit exposure, economic shocks, investment opportunities, and policy alignment.The government is unable to publish the full selection methodology used to choose the 100 Towns that will work towards Town Deals at this time. This is because it includes information that relates to the formulation and development of government policy which is still live and ongoing. It will also feed into and inform future funding policy, including the competitive element of the Towns Fund.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many staff, by grade, have volunteered for shift working in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Jake Berry: A total of 178 MHCLG staff have currently volunteered for shift working in the DOC. The grade breakdown is as follows: 20 Senior Civil Servants, 16 Grade 6, 67 Grade 7, 19 Senior Executive Officer, 38 Higher Executive Officers and 18 Executive Officers.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of his staff, by grade, who volunteered for shift working at the Departmental Operations Centre have been rejected because the Department needs to retain them in their current roles.

Jake Berry: No member of staff who has volunteered to work shifts has been rejected because the Department needs to retain them in their current role. Volunteers for shift working were sought from those individuals either already working in the DOC or already assigned to a DOC team and therefore the possibility of rejecting volunteers because they need to be retained in their current role did not arise.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many of his staff, by grade, that have not volunteered for shift working in the Departmental Operations Centre in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal have (a) been transferred and (b) informed that they may be transferred to normal, daytime hours roles working on preparations in that centre.

Jake Berry: Staff working in our Departmental Operations Centre (DOC) include a combination of staff who have been recruited through open and fair competition, volunteers who have come forward as our preparations for a no deal exit scenario have increased and other staff who have been asked to work in the DOC as part of those preparations. We have not maintained a central breakdown of those working in the DOC against these different circumstances. Shift working is voluntary and if an individual does not wish to work shifts they will be deployed within their normal working pattern.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Brexit

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance the Department has issued to managers to ensure that selection of staff for normal hours day time working in the Departmental Operations Centre is conducted fairly and without discriminating against staff with protected characteristics.

Jake Berry: Our existing policies for the recruitment, selection or deployment of staff within the Department ensure that we act fairly and without discriminating against staff with protected characteristics and we have continued to apply those policies.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Racial Harassment

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to tackle incidences of racial abuse in the armed forces.

Johnny Mercer: The Armed Forces do not tolerate racist behaviour in any form. All allegations of illegal or inappropriate behaviour are taken extremely seriously and investigated thoroughly. We have a range of initiatives to stamp out this kind of behaviour, including stepping up education programmes including diversity and inclusion training, reviewing our internal disciplinary procedures and raising awareness about available support. However, we recognise we need to do more; earlier this year we adopted the recommendations of Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Michael Wigston's report on inappropriate behaviours, including recommendations on immersive culture and behaviour training at the start of service and at regular intervals throughout, and more training on 'bystanders' so that people have the skills and confidence to intervene when they see inappropriate behaviour. We have established a new team in Defence which will oversee the implementation of ACM Wigston's recommendations.

Ministry of Defence: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many staff in his Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Johnny Mercer: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes biannual statistics on diversity declarations for Armed Forces personnel and MOD civilian staff. The latest editions can be found at the following links:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-2019https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-diversity-dashboard-2019

Arctic: Diplomatic Relations

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of appointing an ambassador to the Arctic to represent the Government’s interests in that region.

Mark Lancaster: None. Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon is Minister for the Polar Regions and is supported by the Head of the Foreign and Commonwealth's Polar Regions Department. The Government has consistently noted that such an Ambassador to the Arctic would not add significant value to existing structures and roles currently in place, nor justify the additional costs.

Iraq: Military Aid

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on the continuation of the role of British forces in training and equipping Iraqi security forces and Kurdish security forces in the event that the US Administration withdraws its forces from the Kurdistan region in Iraq.

Mark Lancaster: The UK has a persistent partnership with Iraq. We are committed to supporting the Iraqi Security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga in countering the threat from Daesh. Together with Iraq, we have a shared aim of ensuring Daesh's enduring defeat, in addition to a long-term commitment to stabilisation of the country. Our efforts to support a stable and prosperous Iraq are vital to UK national security.

Railways: Armed Forces

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many active HM Forces Railcards there are.

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many serving personnel use the HM Forces Railcard.

Johnny Mercer: In Financial Year 2018-19, 65,759 HM Forces Railcards were issued to those who are eligible, each of which is valid for 12 months.

Military Aid: Training

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will review his Department's policy on training military officers from countries with a record of human rights abuses.

Mark Lancaster: All training offered to foreign military personnel is provided in accordance with an Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessment, which will evaluate the risk of the training being used in a way that is not in line with human rights and British values. Participation in UK training exposes personnel from other countries to UK values and standards and helps to promote concepts of accountability, transparency and human rights protection. OSJA assessments are reviewed annually and also if there is a change of circumstances which might significantly alter the risks relating to any existing Defence training programmes.

Department for Work and Pensions

Maternity Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for maternity allowance were (a) received, (b) accepted and (c) rejected in the latest year for which figures are available.

Mims Davies: MA Claims received - 99750MA Claims accepted - 86100MA Claims refused – 14950 Figures provided are for the year March 2018 - February 2019 The data provided is sourced from management information.Data are published quarterly on the number of commencements to Maternity Allowance on a rolling basis up to February 2019 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maternity-allowance-quarterly-statistics The quarterly commencements do not sum to the annual claims accepted quoted above as the published data is subject to substantial retrospection from late notifications to the computer system, as noted in the publication. These figures also exclude a small proportion of clerical cases. The reasons for the MA claims being rejected are: Customer has not satisfied the Employment TestCustomer has not satisfied the Earnings TestCustomer has claimed MA whilst receiving SMPCustomer/ Employer has failed to respond to requests for information/ clarification within the requested timescales

Department for Work and Pensions: Islam

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in her Department reported their religion as Islam in the latest period for which figures are available; what the reported ethnicity of those staff was; and how many of those staff were employed at each grade.

Mims Davies: The Civil Service Workforce Plan 2016-2020 set out the ambition for the Civil Service to become the most inclusive employer in the UK. We are already working towards this ambition and are embedding the commitments within Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: A Brilliant Civil Service: becoming the UK’s most inclusive employer, within our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners. This includes a commitment to focus on faith and belief as part of our wider approach to inclusion.DWP encourages all of its employees to provide details of their personal diversity information, however this action is voluntary and therefore we do not hold a complete picture of our workforce representation. As at 30 September 2019, 46.2% of our workforce have positively shared their religious belief information, and 83.7% have shared information on their ethnicity. Due to the different reporting levels caution should be taken when drawing conclusions from this data. Information has been provided using the 2011 Census in England and Wales 5 broad categories commonly referred to as ONS 5+1 (2011)  Number of Muslims by Ethnicity Category and Grade as at 30 September 2019   Grade Ethnicity CategoryA/AAB/AOC/EOD/HEOE/SEOF/G7G/G6SCSGrand TotalAsian/Asian British6583685792511**1395Black African/Caribbean/Black British 1527**   45Mixed/Multiple Ethnic Group 1318**   36Other Ethnic Group 9145* * 32Prefer not to say*1428*44White 819***  34Not Recorded 3541*78Grand Total*6778329633*5*1664 * in line with Office of National Statistics guidance, the data has been suppressed where less than 5 people have contributed a response.

Universal Credit

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many sanctions on universal credit claimants were successfully appealed at independent tribunals in 2018-19.

Mims Davies: Statistics on the volume and outcomes of Universal Credit sanction appeal decisions for Live Service claimants are published and can be found at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.htmlThe numbers for full service claimants are not readily available and we anticipate this would incur disproportionate costs.

Food Banks: Glasgow

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have been signposted or referred to a food bank by staff at Shettleston Jobcentre in the last 12 months.

Will Quince: The Department does not collect data on the number of claimants signposted to food banks by Jobcentre staff. We want to develop a better understanding of the drivers of food insecurity and identify which groups are most at risk and, as such, we worked with the Scottish Government, food insecurity experts, and the Office for National Statistics to introduce a new set of food security questions in the latest Family Resources Survey (April). This will enable us in the future to monitor the prevalence and severity of household food insecurity across the UK and for specific groups.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her Department's policy to collect information on the number of individuals subject to a benefit sanction who receive assistance from a food bank during the period of sanction.

Will Quince: Jobcentres have discretion to work with a wide range of partners including food banks, and can signpost customers to food banks where they have asked for details, and where all sources of statutory support have been considered. Jobcentre staff are not required to keep records of the numbers or circumstances of benefit claimants they signpost, and we have no current plans to changes these arrangements. Sanctions are only used in a minority of cases. We have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene, as a result of their sanction.

Attendance Allowance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of changing application forms for attendance allowance .

Guy Opperman: Successive Governments of different political persuasions have reviewed forms and letters when circumstances change. The Government reviews forms and letters as and when changes to a DWP benefit occurs and/or as a result of customer feedback. The Attendance Allowance claim form was last updated in December 2018. The Attendance Allowance claim form is designed to elicit the required information to determine entitlement to Attendance Allowance and to help support citizens in telling us how their lives are affected by their disability.

Attendance Allowance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of attendance allowance claims have been successful since (a) 2010, (b) 2015 and (c) 2018.

Guy Opperman: The information before 2012 is not available. The following information is available for Financial Years 2014/15 and 2017/18:Attendance Allowance Awards Success Rates for 2014/15 is 86.2%Attendance Allowance Awards Success Rates for 2017/18 is 84.9%.

Attendance Allowance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of attendance allowance claims are due to dementia.

Guy Opperman: The information is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk Guidance for users is available at:https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

Pensions: Uprating

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of uprating pensions for people who retired in EU27 states in 2018.

Guy Opperman: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Whilst we do not have this information readily available, the Department does publish figures on State Pension expenditure. The Department’s Benefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2019

Occupational Pensions: Vale of Clwyd

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Vale of Clwyd constituency have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.

Guy Opperman: Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012. The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates1. I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as at end of September 20192: In the Vale of Clwyd constituency since 2012, approximately 6,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,410 employers have met their duties. 1Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf. 2The Pensions Regulator’s data on Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance by constituency, available via the following weblink:https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/document-library/research-and-analysis/data-requests

Cold Weather Payments: Sutton Coldfield

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Sutton Coldfield constituency received cold weather payments in the winter period of 2017-18.

Will Quince: The Cold Weather Payment scheme is administered at weather station level rather than any other standard GB geography such as constituency level. The coverage area for each weather station is determined by the Met Office which assesses the most appropriate weather station for each postcode area. Cold weather payments are triggered when the average temperature recorded at the weather station has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0oC or below over seven consecutive days, during the Cold Weather season (November to March). The constituency of Sutton Coldfield covers all or part of the following postcode areas: B4, B6, B23, B42, B44, B72-76. The above postcode areas are covered by the weather station Coleshill. Coleshill weather station covers the following postcode areas, in Table 1, which include constituencies other than Sutton Coldfield. Table 1 Postcode sectors mapped to Weather StationsWeather stationPostcode Sectors CoveredColeshillB1-21, B23-38, B40, B42-50, B60-80, B90-98, CV1-12, CV21-23, CV31-35, CV37, CV47, DY1-14, LE10, WS1-15, WV1-16. Qualifying individuals living in these postcode sectors will have received a payment in respect of a seven-day period of Cold Weather. We estimate that 289,000 payments were made in this area as a whole, in respect of one trigger in 2017/18. We are not able to break this figure down to a lower level.  Notes The number of recipients and payments given here is an estimate as information on the exact number is not readily available. These figures are produced by determining the volume of eligible recipients in each weather station area at the start of the winter season and using these figures throughout the winter to estimate payments and expenditure based on the actual triggers recorded. The number of payments made is not necessarily the total number of individuals benefitting from a Cold Weather Payment. Any individuals making a joint claim for one of the qualifying benefits, such as a couple living together, will receive one payment between them rather than one payment each. Furthermore, if a weather station triggers more than once throughout a cold weather season then the recipients will receive more than one payment. Estimates of Cold Weather Payments are published weekly during the Cold Weather season. The latest published estimates can be found at the link below:  https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/social-fund-cold-weather-payments

Bereavement Support Payment

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to consult on increasing the eligibility for bereavement support payment to include cohabitees.

Will Quince: The Department currently has no plans to consult on increasing the eligibility for bereavement support payment to include cohabitees.

Bereavement Support Payment

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) 18-month limit for receiving bereavement support payment and (b) three-month limit for claiming bereavement support payment.

Will Quince: We intend to carry out an evaluation of Bereavement Support Payment once sufficient evidence is available for this comparatively new benefit, to enable us to evaluate the policy.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the mandatory reconsideration process.

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the mandatory reconsideration process is an effective means of redress for applicants who have not been awarded personal independence payment.

Justin Tomlinson: Earlier this year we implemented a new approach to handling applications for Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) in PIP which includes contacting claimants, where appropriate, to see if there is information that would enable us to change the decision. To support this, we are investing additional time for communication, evidence gather and review. This approach supports our aim of making the right decision as early as possible, so that claimants don’t need to progress to the appeal stage. Early results have been positive and the same approach has now been adopted in ESA and UC. We continue to engage with stakeholders to explore how we can further improve the effectiveness of the MR process.

Attendance Allowance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the the effect on vulnerable claimants of  the requirement for six months proof of eligibility when applying for attendance allowance.

Guy Opperman: The longstanding principle applied by successive governments, whether they are Labour, Coalition or Conservatives is that some, or all, of the qualifying period can be completed before the claim for Attendance Allowance is made. Thus qualifying claimants with care needs can normally become eligible for Attendance Allowance 6 months after those care needs arise.There is no requirement for claims from those with a terminal illness to complete a qualifying period. Claims from other identified vulnerable claimants will be dealt with as a matter of priority where appropriate.

Carers

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of carers who care for more than one person.

Justin Tomlinson: From data published in March 2019, covering the period 17/18, there were around 360,000 informal carers that care for more than one individual. The information is published and available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-201718https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789338/frs-carers-data-tables-2017-18.xlsx(Table 5_1 and table 5_7)

Universal Credit: Fraud

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many instances of universal credit advance fraud have been investigated by her Department in each month since the introduction of full service.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 28 October 2019



The Department has captured discrete figures on the number of investigations for this type of fraud since February 2019. A breakdown of how many cases have been either completed, or are at some stage of investigation is shown in the table below. MonthFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberNumber of cases2009001,6008009001,3004,8005,300*These figures have been sourced from internal management information and were not intended for public release. They are subject to change and should not be compared to other figures subsequently released by the Department. These figures have been rounded to the nearest 100. As the scale of this issue has increased, we have dedicated more resource to the team investigating this fraud. We have also worked with operational staff to improve the referral process. This allows referrals to be routed to investigators and progressed more quickly.

Office for Disability Issues

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress the Government has made on establishing a new cross-government disability team.

Justin Tomlinson: On 25 June the Government announced that a cross-government Disability Unit would be created. Since then the Cabinet Office has recruited officials from across government, including secondees from DWP, BEIS, DCMS, DfT, DHSC, MHCLG, MoJ and ONS. Officials from the Office for Disability Issues in the Department of Work and Pensions will transfer to the new Disability Unit in November 2019. The Disability Unit will sit alongside the Government Equalities Office and the Race Disparity Unit in a new Cabinet Office Equalities Hub.

Private Rented Housing

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she will make an assessment of the potential merits of permitting the direct payment of housing costs to landlords prior to eight weeks of arrears being built up, by giving all tenants the option at the outset of their claim of having their housing costs paid directly to their landlord.

Will Quince: Universal Credit payments are deliberately designed to mirror the world of work, where people take responsibility for budgeting their own income in order to be financially independent. In turn, this helps those not already working to prepare for moving back into employment. For claimants needing additional advice and support with personal budgeting, help is available from work coaches and case managers. Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs), such as a managed payment to landlord (MPTL), are available to enable the housing costs element to be paid directly to the landlord if the tenant is likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments, or is in rent arrears. They can be requested by a claimant at any point during their claim. APAs will only be considered where a lack of financial capability poses a risk to the claimant, or their family, and the decision to implement one is assessed on a case by case basis. Staff work closely with claimants and are trained to gauge a claimant’s financial needs at their initial interview, and throughout their claim, based on their personal circumstances.

Children: Maintenance

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how his Department defines what a reasonable chance of collection is before deciding to write-off arrears accrued under the Child Support Agency.

Mims Davies: Where a receiving parent makes representations for the arrears to be collected, the Service will make every effort to trace the paying parent associated with the case and verify the arrears. The paying parent will also be given an opportunity to make representations as part of the process. Once the debt is moved to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) it will exhaust all available collection methods available in an attempt to secure a payment. Some of the collection options available to the CMS include imposing a deduction from earnings order and lump sum deduction orders. If all attempts are unsuccessful the debt may then be deemed uncollectable and write-off considered.

Children: Maintenance

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of  receiving parent's arrears accrued under the Child Support Agency that were written off while a Deduction from Earnings Order was in place.

Mims Davies: Only cases with CSA debt that haven’t made payments for the last three months are in scope for selection as part of the Compliance & Arrears Strategy. Cases with a paying Deduction from Earnings Order in Place will not be selected.

Children: Maintenance

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reason receiving parents were not compensated for the decision to write-off arrears for money they were owed which accrued under the Child Support Agency.

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recourse is available to receiving parents whose arrears accrued under the Child Support Agency have been written off.

Mims Davies: Writing off some historic Child Support Agency (CSA) arrears was not a quick or easy decision, and involved exhausting other approaches to deal with the debt, including using debt collection agencies without success. Much of the debt that accrued under the CSA is now old and generally uncollectable, and most parents accept this. It is a long-established principle of the child maintenance system that where non-resident parents do not pay the maintenance they are legally required to pay, the obligation on the government is to do its best to ensure collection – not for the taxpayer to pay the maintenance. We are making one last attempt to collect the debt, where it is cost effective to do so and there is a reasonable chance of collection. Debts of smaller amounts may be written off as part of the process. Attempting to collect would have cost around £1.5bn, and would have recovered between £0.1bn and £0.6bn. Had we not written off we would have needed to maintain the debt indefinitely at a cost of £30 million per year. Addressing these cases will enable us to close the CSA completely and focus on collecting money that will benefit today’s children, and avoid the build-up of arrears in the Child Maintenance Service.

Retail Trade: Unemployment

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to help workers from the retail industry who have lost their jobs transition to new roles.

Mims Davies: Jobcentre Plus is geared-up to offer advice to those claiming welfare benefits. Universal Credit has replaced six working age benefits with one; to simplify the welfare system and make work pay. As a result, people claiming Universal Credit move into work faster, stay in work longer and spend more time looking to increase their earnings. Universal Credit also provides more help with childcare costs, a dedicated Work Coach and scraps the 16, 24 and 30 hour ‘cliff edges’. Through Jobcentre Plus, individuals can get advice on finding a job; help with retraining or skills advice, CV and job applications; and access to new vacancies we record every day. They can also access a range of tailored opportunities to improve their likelihood of entering or re-entering the labour market, including demand-led training for higher skilled jobs in specific sectors. Jobcentre Plus also provides numerous leads and good practice ideas to help people direct their job search in the most effective manner. DWP also supports people affected by redundancy through the Rapid Response Service (RRS). This is designed to give tailored support and advice to employers and their employees when faced with redundancy. Each Jobcentre Plus district deploys resources according to the situation and the requirements of those affected. The RRS is delivered in partnership with a range of national and local partners, including National Careers Service and local service providers.

Pensioners: Personal Independence Payment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 282280, what proportion of claimants transferring from disability living allowance who were over 65 on the date of their application for personal independence payment have (a) requested a mandatory reconsideration and (b) appealed to a tribunal.

Justin Tomlinson: On 12th September 2019 the Department published new experimental statistics tracking initial decisions following a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment through to Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR) or appeals, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-july-2019 Based on these new experimental statistics, 24% of claimants transferring from Disability Living Allowance who were over 65 on the date of their application for PIP have requested an MR and 11% have lodged an appeal, after an initial decision following a PIP assessment. These figures cover initial decisions following a PIP assessment since PIP was introduced up to March 2019, and for MRs and appeals to June 2019. They do not include decisions, MRs and appeals relating to decisions prior to an assessment being completed (disallowances due to failure of basic eligibility criteria or non-return of the Part 2 form within the time limit and have not been marked as requiring additional support, or disallowances following the claimant failing to attend the assessment without good reason). PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants. MR and appeal figures include those awarded PIP at initial decision as well as those disallowed. Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to MR or appeal.

Personal Independence Payment

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 5 September 2019 to Question 281695, how many people over 65 claiming disability living allowance have not yet been advised by her Department to apply for personal independence payment.

Justin Tomlinson: The specific information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people are entitled to claim universal credit by telephone; and if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's internal guidance for staff on accepting telephone claims for universal credit.

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued on making a claim for universal credit by telephone.

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans she has to update the information on gov.uk that universal credit must be claimed online to include reference to non-digital or telephone claims.

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether written information on managing non-digital and telephone claims is (a) sent by post and (b) read over the telephone to universal credit claimants.

Will Quince: The Department takes seriously the need to support vulnerable claimants, and wants the application process for Universal Credit to be as quick and easy as possible, ensuring that claimants receive money at the earliest opportunity. It is designed to be a ‘digital-first’ service, ensuring we make best use of technology to deliver a modern and effective working-age welfare system, allowing our staff to concentrate on those people who require additional support. We are already committed to placing Universal Credit guidance in the House’s Library and last updated it on 28 March 2019. Our Universal Credit Claimant Survey, found that 98 per cent of claimants have internet access and did claim online, and the majority of those said they found the claim process overall to be straightforward. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey All Jobcentre Plus offices across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet. For those that are still unable to access or use digital services, or are not able to travel, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline – which is clearly displayed on GOV.UK. Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland have been delivering the ‘Help to Claim’ service on a pilot basis since April 2019. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people make a Universal Credit claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time, and is available online, on the phone and face-to-face through local Citizen’s Advice services. Although the Department offers comprehensive support for claimants to use our digital service, there will be occasions when people are unable to make their claim online, and so telephone applications can be accepted. In these instances, information normally available through a claimant’s online account, will be communicated in an alternative format which is best suited to an individual’s circumstances.

Unemployment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were economically inactive in the UK in (a) 2010 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mims Davies: In February-April 2010 there were 9.5 million economically inactive people in the UK. This number has dropped to 8.7 million people for the period June-August 2019. These statistics are for the 16-64 age group, which is the Office for National Statistic’s headline rate for economic inactivity.

Universal Credit: Telephone Services

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 3 April 2019 to Question 238679 on Universal Credit: Telephone Services, whether calls which are transferred to a different case manager or helpline advisor continue to be (a) recorded and (b) retrievable; and what steps she is taking to ensure that all calls on universal credit are recorded to maintain a complete record of a claimant's interactions with the Department.

Mims Davies: Service centre calls are recorded and retained for a period of 14 months; this includes inbound and outbound calls to and from UC telephony service centres and any transfers within the service centres.

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the potential effect of delays at the ENGIE Document Scanning facility at Kidderminster on benefit claimants.

Mims Davies: The Mail Opening Unit at Kidderminster meets it’s contracted performance requirements and there are no delays. There are full business continuity measures in place and these are regularly reviewed by the relevant officials.

Veterans: Employment

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will conduct an assessment of the potential merits of (a) Job Centre and (b) Department for Work and Pensions staff collecting information on veterans on employment record systems.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with veterans' organisations on recent trends in the rate of unemployed veterans.

Will Quince: DWP Ministers and officials regularly meet with organisations representing members of the armed forces community, including veterans. Many of the veterans’ organisations work directly with the Jobcentre network to offer a range of specialist advice and help to veterans and family members who are in receipt of benefits. Those leaving the services are able to receive support to secure employment in a number of ways, including through the Career Transition Partnership (CTP). (The CTP can provide resettlement support, career transition advice and training opportunities.) DWP also gives veterans early voluntary entry to the Health and Work Programme if they wish. Veterans generally do well in securing employment once they have left the forces. Working age UK Armed Forces veterans residing in Great Britain were as likely to be employed (79% for both groups) as the comparable non-veteran population. (Source - Annual Population Survey: UK Armed Forces veterans residing in Great Britain 2017.) And 84% of the 2017/18 UK regular service leavers who used CTP services and reported their employment outcomes were employed within six months of leaving the Service. (Source: Career Transition Partnership Annual Statistic: UK Regular Service personnel Employment 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2019.)  DWP has traditionally collected some information on claims from veterans through our Labour Market System. As veterans claiming benefits increasingly receive Universal Credit rather than legacy benefits, we are looking to see what opportunities might be available to better identify and record veterans to help ensure they get the appropriate tailored help and support they need.

Homelessness: Death

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to identify how many homeless people who died in the most recent 12 month period for which figures are available had been in receipt of benefits in the 12 months prior to their death; and if she will publish information on the town or city in which each homeless person in receipt of benefits died.

Will Quince: The Department does not centrally collate data on the number of customers who are homeless which would be necessary to inform such an estimate and to do so would create a disproportionate cost to the Department. We know that there are varied and complex reasons behind a person’s homelessness. That is why it is DWP’s priority to ensure that people experiencing homelessness, or at risk, get the appropriate support they need to stabilise their lives and move into work. In order to fully evaluate the factors which cause homelessness, we commissioned a feasibility study and rapid evidence review into the causes of homelessness, in partnership with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The research included a rapid evidence assessment on the causes of homelessness in the UK, a review of models of homelessness developed outside of Government, and a feasibility study that provided advice on the development of quantitative models of homelessness that could be used for policy appraisal. We are currently working on next steps. The publications can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/causes-of-homelessness-and-rough-sleeping-feasibility-study We provide a range of support to help people who are homeless or at risk move closer to, or into, work. This includes safeguards to help people make a Universal Credit claim; access to the Jobcentre Plus employment offer with individual tailoring; and priority access to the Work and Health Programme. Work coaches are legally required to offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority of the claimant’s choice. We are supporting the manifesto commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eradicate it altogether by 2027 through the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce, and commitments set out in the recent Rough Sleeping Strategy.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of the recommendations of the Bovine TB Strategy Review published in October 2018.

George Eustice: I am very grateful for the work of Professor Sir Charles Godfray and his team in exploring how we might accelerate progress in tackling Bovine TB. This is a terrible disease which creates considerable trauma in the farming industry and is very difficult to eradicate for a number of reasons. Sir Charles’s review is an important contribution. The Government will publish its response shortly.

Imports

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the preparedness of the Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) to replace the EU’s Trade Control and Expert System; and what discussions she has had with representatives of port health authorities on contingency planning for IPAFFS after the UK has left the EU.

George Eustice: The Import of Products, Animals, Food and Feed System (IPAFFS) was ready for use in advance of the last withdrawal date of 12 April. Since then, work on IPAFFS has continued to further develop and stabilise the system, improving the user experience and increasing functionalities for imports from countries outside the EU. IPAFFS is currently available for businesses to register and begin familiarising themselves with the system. Businesses importing goods from outside the EU are able to use the system from Day 1. IPAFFS replicates the same functionality as the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) currently used by importers to notify authorities about imports of animal products, high-risk food and feed from non-EU countries. For an interim period, businesses importing goods from the EU will follow a separate process whilst this functionality is built into IPAFFS. As part of our programme’s nationwide business readiness activities we have been engaging with businesses, stakeholders and users of IPAFFS (including Port Health Authorities) to ensure they can familiarise themselves with the system ahead of 31 October. The current IPAFFS contingency process is mostly unchanged from the one proposed for the previous departure date in March and follows a similar process to that used by TRACES if it were to stop working today. The National Clearance Hub has accepted the contingency as workable.

Animal Feed and Food: Imports

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether UK ports will be required to undertake sanitary and phytosanitary controls of high-risk food and feed from the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The process for importing feed and food from the EU to the UK will not change after Brexit. There will be no additional controls or checks. Full guidance has been published on Gov.uk and this includes new arrangements for the notification only of certain imports. Options for a new, long term imports regime for animals and animal products are under consideration. The sanitary and phytosanitary conditions for trade between the UK and the EU will also be a matter for negotiation as part of our Future Relationship with the EU.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which public appointments she is responsible for.

George Eustice: The public appointments that the department is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019. https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Jainism

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will invite representatives of the Jain community to national events organised by her Department; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: Britain’s Jain community makes a positive contribution to life in this country. This Government values its contribution immensely. The Government is always keen to work with the Jain community on matters that are important to them, and we will continue to do so.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Pay

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the pay system in her Department has been changed to take account of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling on Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council v Mr G Willetts and Others on holiday pay and voluntary overtime; and whether affected workers in her Department have been given back pay as a result of that ruling.

George Eustice: Following the Tribunal ruling, Defra made backdated payments to eligible staff and is currently working with a number of other Government Departments to change the pay system for the future.

Weeds Act 1959

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to repeal the Weeds Act 1959.

George Eustice: The Weeds Act 1959 extends and applies to England, Scotland and Wales. It does not extend to Northern Ireland. The subject area of the Act is devolved in relation to Scotland and Wales, and those devolved administrations will have their own approach to injurious weeds under the framework of the Act. The Government has no plans to repeal the Weeds Act 1959 at this time. Defra’s injurious weeds policy aims to balance a variety of different interests in the countryside.

Pâté de Foie Gras: Import Controls

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to ban the import of Foie Gras into the UK.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to discourage the (a) sale and (b) consumption of Foie Gras.

George Eustice: The Government has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding (known as gavage) raises serious welfare concerns. The production of foie gras by force feeding is banned in the UK as it is incompatible with our domestic legislation. We recognise the strength of feeling on this issue and once we leave the EU, it will be possible for the Government to review the approach to such imports and sales in the UK.

Environment Protection: British Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish her Department's response to the UK Overseas Territories Environment Funding Call for Evidence.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the summary of the UK Overseas Territories Environment Funding Call for Evidence will be published before the next UK Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council; and whether environmental funding will be on the agenda at that meeting.

Zac Goldsmith: We expect to publish the summary of responses from the Call for Evidence on safeguarding the environment in the British Overseas Territories in November, ahead of the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) which is scheduled to take place on 26th and 27th November 2019. The summary of responses will also set out UK Government’s intended next steps for taking this work forward. We are still developing the agenda for the JMC, but it is likely to include a discussion on environmental funding.

Eutrophication: Solent

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) the University of Portsmouth, (b) Natural England, (c) Southern Water, (d) Portsmouth Water and (e) the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire in tackling eutrophication in the Solent region.

Rebecca Pow: At a local level in the Solent, organisations under Defra (the Environment Agency and Natural England) work with Local Planning Authorities, water companies and academic institutions, including funding research on Solent oyster restoration and water quality directly, as well as with multi-partnership committees and working groups like Partnership for South Hampshire (formerly known as Partnership for Urban South Hampshire) on subjects including water quality. This work includes sharing evidence, assessing water company permits, providing strategic advice to local authority plans, providing environmental information for the investment plans of water companies through the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) and developing diffuse water pollution plans. Defra is concerned about the effect of eutrophication in the Solent and is working widely in partnership and through policy to find a way forward for improvements in the water environment.

Plastics: Packaging

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with the large supermarket chains on reducing the amount of single-use plastics they sell in favour of reusable containers.

Rebecca Pow: The Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) sets out our approach to reducing the use of single-use plastics. The Secretary of State met with major supermarket retailers on 25 September and discussed the impact of the reforms set out in the RWS, including a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers and reform of packaging waste regulations.In April last year, the Waste and Resources Action Plan and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world-leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and all major supermarkets have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. This includes action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.

Food: Waste

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage the public to (a) reduce and (b) recycle food waste.

Rebecca Pow: Food waste is a financial, environmental and moral issue. The UK currently produces 10 million tonnes of food waste every year, and 70% of food waste comes from households who waste 1/5 of what they buy. This amounts to a £810 per year cost to an average family. (a) Action needs to be taken to reduce waste in our homes. The Resources and Waste Strategy, published in December 2018, outlined our continued support for the Waste and Resources Action Programme’s citizen food waste strategy to reduce food waste in our homes, for example through the Love Food Hate Waste campaign. In addition, the Food Waste Action Week will run between 13 - 19 January 2020. The week will focus on raising awareness of the impacts of food waste as an urgent issue. b) Following support at consultation, the draft legislation in the Environment Bill (https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2019-20/environment/documents.html) stipulates that a core set of materials, including food waste, is to be collected for recycling from households by all local authorities in England from 2023. This legislation also stipulates that businesses and other organisations will be required to separate food waste from residual waste for recycling from 2023. Alongside clear communication, this will reduce the quantity of food waste sent to landfill and increase the amount recycled.

Rights of Way

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the risk of ancient rights of way being lost due to them not being registered by local authorities before the 2026 deadline.

Rebecca Pow: We have been working with stakeholders to consider this risk and implement the measures needed to mitigate it, including reforming and simplifying the process for registering rights of way. The legislation will contain an exception for rights of way in current use in order to avoid losing valuable paths that are still active.

Rights of Way

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending the deadline for registering public rights of way beyond 2026.

Rebecca Pow: We recognise the need for sufficient time to register public rights of way before the cut-off date. Stakeholder views on whether there is a need to extend the deadline are mixed, and will be taken into account, although no decision has yet been taken. We will continue to consider views and weigh up the need to extend the deadline against the certainty that the cut-off date will bring.

Waste Disposal

Sandy Martin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to inform local authorities of changes to the financing of waste collection as a result of the policies in Our waste, our resources: a strategy for England published on 18 December 2018.

Rebecca Pow: Earlier this year, the Government published three consultations: ‘consistency in household and business recycling’, ‘reforming the UK packaging producer responsibility system’ and ‘introducing a deposit return scheme for drinks containers’. The consultations sought views on the policies in our Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) including the financing of waste collections. During the consultation period, we held events for local authorities where we invited views on the proposals in the consultations. We have also made it clear to local authorities that the Government is committed to funding any additional net costs that the new policies will bring. We have also made local authorities aware that the reform of the packaging regulations will mean that they receive funding to pay for the collection of packaging materials for recycling. The Environment Bill was introduced on 15 October https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2019-2020/0003/20003.pdf. It contains the draft legislation relating to the policies in the RWS. We will continue to have regular discussions as we develop our final proposals which we will consult on in 2020.

Chemicals: Regulation

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 453 on Chemicals: Regulation, whether the IT system for UK REACH will be fully operational on day one of the UK's exit from the EU. .

Rebecca Pow: The UK REACH IT system ‘Comply with UK-REACH’ will be ready to launch on Day 1 of the UK’s exit from the EU. ‘Comply with UK-REACH’ is being built in a phased approach, so that all features necessary for Day 1 are ready. This will include the ability to register existing UK-held registrations (‘grandfathering’), submit downstream user import notifications (DUIN) for those currently benefitting from EU held registrations, and submit new substance registrations and product and process-oriented research and development (PPORD) notifications.

Plastics: Tobacco

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with cigarette manufacturers on eliminating plastic in cigarette butts.

Rebecca Pow: The Government published the Resources and Waste Strategy last year, setting out our plans to reduce, reuse and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster.We pledged £20 million to the Plastics Research and Innovation Fund which aims to reduce the environmental costs of plastic and litter. Our sights are set on problematic plastics such as cigarette filters which contain single-plastic polymers and blight our streets and seas. The fund will seek to deliver strategic networking and research that will coordinate existing knowledge across the UK, catalysing new ideas and rapid solutions.Ministers have met twice with the Tobacco Manufacturers Association in the last three years, but the Government has not held discussions with any individual tobacco companies about eliminating plastic in cigarette butts.

Dangerous Dogs

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will bring forward legislative proposals to allow rehoming organisations to rehome well-behaved and suitably assessed section 1 dogs.

Zac Goldsmith: I refer my Hon Friend to the reply previously given on June 27 to PQ 267365.

Dogs

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she plans to publish her Department's research on the effectiveness of dog control.

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with dog welfare organisations on promoting responsible dog ownership in education.

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has commissioned research on (a) regulations in relation to dog and (b) responsible dog ownership policies in EU countries.

Zac Goldsmith: Defra commissioned research on responsible dog ownership with Middlesex University. The research aims to update the review Defra commissioned previously in 2010 which considered risk factors around dog attacks, as well as reviewing the use of enforcement around dog control issues, identifying best practice case studies and how to promote responsible dog ownership. As part of the research, the team will draw on relevant evidence from a number of EU countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Spain. The research is due to be completed by the end of 2019. The Government will discuss the findings with stakeholders including dog welfare organisations who have contributed to the research.

Flood Control: Severn Stoke

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of flood protection measures in Severn Stoke, Worcestershire.

Rebecca Pow: Severn Stoke has currently been assessed as benefiting from a 20% annual probability flood level of protection (1 in 5 years) through a low-level agricultural defence. The Environment Agency (EA) is working in partnership with the community to reduce the impacts of flooding. The EA anticipates submitting for an outline planning application this winter for the construction of an earth embankment bund with ancillary structures to provide protection against a 1% annual flood (1 in 100 years).

Home Office

Immigration: EU Nationals

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what documentation officials at the border have been instructed to accept as proof of (a) settled status and (b) pre-settled status for EU nationals arriving in the UK after 31 October 2019.

Brandon Lewis: Immediately after exit, EU citizens can continue to cross the border using their passport or national identity card. They will be able to use e-Gates if they are travelling on a biometric passport.EU citizens will not be routinely asked to prove that they have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme after EU Exit in order to re-enter the UK but systems will be in place to allow border officials to make such checks where necessary.Once the new points based immigration system is fully introduced, Border Force will be able to identify those individuals granted status digitally without the need for the individual to provide evidence.

Home Office: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which public appointments she is responsible for.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Secretary is responsible for making appointments to the following boards of public bodies and public offices:Advisory Council on the Misuse of DrugsAnimals in Science CommitteeAppointed Person under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002Biometric and Forensics Ethics GroupCollege of Policing Board of DirectorsCommissioner for the Retention and Use of Biometric MaterialDesignate Domestic Abuse CommissionerDisclosure and Barring ServiceFirefighters’ Pensions Scheme Advisory BoardForensic Science RegulatorGangmasters and Labour Abuse AuthorityIndependent Anti-Slavery CommissionerIndependent Chief Inspector of Borders and ImmigrationIndependent Family Returns PanelIndependent Monitor of the Disclosure and Barring ServiceIndependent Office for Police ConductIndependent Reviewer of Terrorism LegislationLead Commissioner for Countering ExtremismMembers of the Visiting Committee of any immigration removal centre or short-term holding facilityMigration Advisory CommitteeNational Crime Agency Remuneration Review BodyOffice of the Immigration Services CommissionerPolice Advisory Board for England and WalesPolice (Discipline) Appeals TribunalPolice Remuneration Review BodySecurity Industry AuthoritySurveillance Camera CommissionerTechnical Advisory BoardWimbledon and Putney Commons ConservatorThis list excludes appointments made by the Prime Minister and Her Majesty the Queen (Crown appointments)

Naturalisation

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons her Department has not reached a decision on the application for naturalisation of constituent Ali Bam (B1308051) within the published six-month service standard.

Seema Kennedy: I have written to the Hon. Member on this individual case.

Counter-terrorism

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Prevent programme.

Brandon Lewis: We regularly evaluate the effectiveness of Prevent interventions to build the evidence base for what works. This year we are evaluating the impact of a number of Prevent community projects, on tackling the causes of radicalisation, and are also conducting an evaluation of the Desistance and Disengagement Programme, to understand what is working to disengage and rehabilitate those already engaged in terrorism.In addition, on 12 August 2019, the Home Secretary appointed Lord Carlile to review the Government Strategy for supporting people vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. Lord Carlile will examine Prevent work in action and will be hearing views from supporters, critics and everyone in between, to see evidence of what is and isn’t working and build an evidenced set of recommendations. The terms of reference published on www.gov.uk confirm Lord Carlile will consider, among other things, the effectiveness of Prevent and its delivery. It is a statutory requirement that the Review report be published, and its recommendations formally responded to, by 12 August 2020.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people in Bethnal Green and Bow have received compensation to date from the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Seema Kennedy: A breakdown of claims awarded by constituency could potentially identify individual claimants, so we are not publishing such information. We will shortly be publishing operational information on the Windrush Compensation Scheme, which will include the number of claims received, the number of claims paid and the overall amount of money that has been paid out.

Immigrants: Detainees

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to (a) collect, (b) monitor and (c) publish data on LGBTQI+ people that have been detained under immigration powers.

Seema Kennedy: On the 29th November 2018 the Government published additional information on those held within the Immigration Detention Estate in direct response to the statement made by the Home Secretary, in July of that year, and committed to a full review of our published data to further improve transparency. We are to commence the public consultation element of that review in the coming months.In addition, the new Atlas case working system is in development. Atlas will improve how cases are recorded, managed and reported and will improve the recording of gender.

Police: Mental Health Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mental health support is made available to police officers; and what statistics her Department holds on the suicide rate of police officers.

Kit Malthouse: The Government takes the issue of police wellbeing, including mental health, very seriously and has invested in programmes which offer help directly to officers and staff.In July 2017 the Home Office awarded £7.5 million from the Police Transformation Fund to the College of Policing to pilot and fund a National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS). The NPWS was launched in April 2019 and has developed evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces, as well as individual officers and staff. These include resources to help forces better support officers and staff who are experiencing mental health problems.We have also set out a vision for a new Police Covenant, recognising the bravery and commitment of officers who work night and day to keep us safe. We plan to focus on physical protection for officers, their health and wellbeing and support for their families.The Home Office does not centrally hold information on the number of police officers taking their own lives.The Office for National Statistics publish data on suicide by occupation in England. The latest release can be found here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/suicidebyoccupationenglandsupplementarydatatables

Bail

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the pre-charge bail data from the last 12 months collected as part of police forces' annual data requirements.

Kit Malthouse: The Home Office collects pre-charge bail data, and these are routinely included as part of the annual official statistics publication on ‘Police Powers and Procedures’.In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, the date of publication is pre-announced on the release calendar on www.gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&order=release-date-oldest

Crimes of Violence: Young People

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to reduce youth-related violence in Sutton Coldfield constituency.

Kit Malthouse: This Government is determined to reduce youth-related violence. This includes giving the police the resources and tools they need to keep families, communities and our country safe. The Government has recently launched a national campaign to begin to recruit 20,000 new police officers over the next three years, and we are making it easier for the police to use stop and search powers. Police funding is increasing by more than £1 billion this year, including council tax and additional funding through the £100 million Serious Violence Fund. This Fund covers 18 areas worst affected by serious violence and includes £63.4 million for surge operational activity, £35 million to support Violence Reduction Units, and £1.6 million to help improve the quality of data on serious violence. West Midlands PCC is receiving £7,620,000 for surge operational activity and up to £3,370,000 to support the development of their Violence Reduction Unit.The Government is also investing over £220 million into early intervention projects to steer young people away from crime. The West Midlands PCC was awarded over £2m from the Early Intervention Youth Fund to target resources and interventions at the young people most at risk and we recently awarded over £170k from the anti-knife crime Community Fund to projects in the West Midlands. Additionally, projects in Birmingham will benefit from investment from the first allocations from the Youth Endowment Fund.

Police: Mental Health Services

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to make ring-fenced funding for mental health support for police officers part of the Police Covenant.

Kit Malthouse: This Government could not be clearer about the value we place on the role of the police and the importance of prioritising officer and staff wellbeing.We have set out a vision for a new Police Covenant in Police Protection Bill recognising the bravery and commitment of officers who work night and day to keep us safe. We plan to focus on physical protection for officers, their health and wellbeing and support for their families.We are working with policing partners and other government departments to develop the detail of what will be covered by a Covenant. This will be followed by a public consultation.We have also invested £7.5m in a new National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS). The NPWS was launched in April 2019 and has developed evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces, as well as individual officers and staff. These include resources to help forces better support officers and staff who are experiencing mental health problems.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Alun Cairns: The Secretary of State for Wales is not responsible for making any public appointments.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Public Appointments

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which public appointments he is responsible for.

Mr Alister Jack: The public appointments that the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland is responsible for making are set out in the Schedule to the Public Appointments Order in Council 2019:https://publicappointments.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-Public-Appointments-Order-In-Council.pdf

Department for Exiting the European Union

Brexit

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, with reference to the Answer of 4 October 2019 to Question 290576 on Low incomes: Food, how many exit scenarios the Government has planned for; what the cost of those plans are; and what form those plans take.

James Duddridge: The Prime Minister has negotiated a new deal which would ensure that the UK leaves the EU in an orderly and friendly way.However, the Government is also well prepared for a no deal scenario. The Treasury has made over £8.3 billion available to prepare for Brexit, including £2.1 billion in August this year to increase preparations for leaving without a deal.The food industry is experienced in dealing with scenarios that can affect food supply, from adverse weather damaging crops in other countries to transport issues abroad. The Government has been meeting weekly with industry and retailers to make sure we are prepared for all exit scenarios.The Government remains committed to providing support to those who need it most, and the national benefit system will continue to provide a strong safety net, delivering over £200 billion in support this year. In particular, the Government continues to spend over £95 billion a year on welfare benefits. This includes a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans as an additional safeguard for those who need them.

Treasury

Revenue and Customs: Peterborough

Ms Lisa Forbes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the (a) employment prospects and (b) financial security of former staff of the HMRC office in Peterborough of the closure of that office.

Jesse Norman: HMRC’s office in Peterborough (Churchgate) is scheduled to close in December 2020 with staff moving where possible to the Stratford Regional Centre, or to Croydon or Nottingham if these are more suitable options. One-to-one meetings between staff and managers to discuss personal circumstances and support packages tailored to individual needs are scheduled to start in November 2019. The precise impact of the office closure will not be known until these meetings have been completed. HMRC will support people who are unable to move to work through all possible options, including helping them to find another role and offering advice and training on applying for jobs. HMRC have a close working relationship with the other government departments in Peterborough and will continue to scope opportunities for their staff as they arise. HMRC are committed to supporting their people and in July 2019 HMRC published a People and Equality Impact Assessment, which is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/817787/People_and_Equality_Impact_Assessment_-_Locations_Programme__2019_.pdf. The document sets out the actions HMRC are taking across the UK to minimise the impacts on their people.

Treasury: Living Wage

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff of his Department are paid less than the London Living Wage; and what requirements his Department places on contractors to pay the London Living Wage to London-based staff.

Mr Simon Clarke: This government is committed to paying people a decent living wage, which is being addressed through the statutory National Living Wage. In April 2019, the National Living Wage increased to £8.21 per hour, handing a full-time worker a further £690 annual pay rise. By 2024 the National Living Wage will rise to £10.50 per hour, reaching 66% of median UK earnings. The scope will be expanded to everyone aged 21 and over and is expected to benefit over 4 million low paid workers. The Government will always award contracts on the basis of the best value for money for the taxpayer. No staff directly employed by HM Treasury are paid less than the Real, or London Living Wage for London-based staff. Contractors must be paid at least the National Minimum Wage, or the National Living Wage for workers over 25, in line with statutory requirements, but the London Living Wage is not a requirement.

Treasury: Jainism and Zoroastrianism

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when representatives of the (a) Jain and (b) Zoroastrian community were invited to national events organised by his Department in each of the last two years.

Mr Simon Clarke: HMG Ministers have attended a number of key events coordinated by Jain and Zoroastrian organisations, and officials have invited representatives from both communities to participate in roundtable discussions where relevant issues are discussed. The Jain and Zoroastrian communities of this country have made, and continue to make a positive contribution to life in the United Kingdom. The Government values this contribution enormously.

Public Works Loan Board

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason (a) the borrowing rate for local authorities from the Public Works Loan Board was increased by HM Treasury by 100bps on 9 October 2019 and (b) that increase was not disclosed in a Delegated Legislation Committee which considered the Instrument that increased the borrowing limit for that board on 3 October 2019.

John Glen: The Public Works Loan Board enables Local Authorities to borrow money at low rates. Some local authorities substantially increased their use of the Public Works Loan Board over the summer, as the cost of borrowing fell to record lows. To ensure the continued availability of lending for local government investment in capital projects the Government increased the level of available PWLB funding by £10 billion and restored rates to levels available in 2018. In 2018 Local Authorities delivered £25.8bn of capital expenditure in England. Borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board sits on the Government’s balance sheet and HM Treasury keeps this under review. It was not possible to announce the rate change prior to its implementation because the change was market sensitive.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will increase the £66 million funding for early years education announced in the Spending Round 2019 by 10 per cent by 2021.

Rishi Sunak: At Spending Round 2019 the government announced an additional £66m to increase the hourly rate paid to early years providers through the government’s free hours offers. The Department for Education will share further details of funding for 2020-21 in due course.

Revenue and Customs: Training

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what training HMRC staff have on economic abuse.

Jesse Norman: HMRC have safeguarding procedures for apprentices who are training in HMRC. These safeguarding procedures include mandatory training for everyone working with or managing tax apprentices, as well as the apprentices themselves. This safeguarding training covers the indicators of economic, or financial, abuse relating to vulnerable adults.

Non-domestic Rates: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many appeals in relation to business rates the Valuation Office has received from businesses in Romford constituency in the most recent year for which information is available; and what proportion of those appeals resulted in a new business rate being set.

Jesse Norman: The appeals process consists of three stages designed to ensure queries are dealt with at the earliest possible stage: Check, Challenge and Appeal. For the period 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 the VOA received 113 Checks against the Rateable Value (RV) for properties within the Romford constituency and 21 Challenges. Appeals are the responsibility of the independent Valuation Tribunal Service.Providing a breakdown of the outcomes of resolved cases could only be done at disproportionate cost.

Alpha Insurance

Peter Heaton-Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on Alpha insurance customers of the decision by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to award only premium insurance refunds to those people following the bankruptcy of that company.

John Glen: The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects customers when a financial services firm fails, and is independent from government and industry. It is accountable to both the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority for the effective operation of the scheme. Her Majesty’s Treasury has conducted no formal assessment of the effect on the customers of Alpha insurance of the decision taken by the FSCS to award return of premium refunds following its insolvency. The rules setting out the operation of the scheme allow for premium refund compensation, where a suitable replacement provider cannot be found to take on the policies of an insolvent firm.

Cars: Loans

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the effect on the car industry of changes to car finance loan terms following the publication of the FCA's March 2019 report entitled Our work on motor finance - final findings.

John Glen: On 1 April 2014 the Government transferred regulatory responsibility for the consumer credit market, including motor finance products, from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government has given the FCA robust powers to protect consumers and supports the work undertaken by the FCA to reduce consumer harm in this sector. In March 2019 the FCA released the report: Our work on motor finance – final findings. In their report, the FCA expressed concern about the extent to which broker discretion is allowed over interest rates in certain commission structures and said that they are considering possible responses, such as strengthening existing provisions and banning certain commission structures. As required by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), the FCA must undertake detailed cost benefit analysis of their proposals. This assessment was published in October 2019 as part of their ongoing consultation on changes to the rules governing the motor finance industry.

Coinage

Mary Creagh: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether work has commenced on minting the 50 pence coin to mark the UK's exit from the EU.

John Glen: The Royal Mint has paused production of the coin to mark the UK’s exit from the EU.

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which (a) projects and (b) schemes in Northern Ireland were funded in (a) part and (b) in whole  by financial transactions capital since 2012-13; and what the chargeable interest rate was for that funding.

Gavin Robinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the allocation of financial transactions capital, what the average approval time was for an application in Northern Ireland.

Rishi Sunak: I refer the Honourable Member to the response to PQ UIN 4378 on 28 October 2019.

Economic Situation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the benefits to the UK's economy over the next 10 years of the UK leaving the EU.

John Glen: Agreeing the Withdrawal Agreement is self-evidently in our economic interest. It would bring an end to the damaging uncertainty and delay of the past years, and allow businesses to get on with taking decisions, including around recruitment and investment. Approving the Withdrawal Agreement would also allow us to get on with the process of agreeing a mutually beneficial new trading relationship with our European friends - a comprehensive and ambitious free trade agreement (FTA). Leaving the Customs Union and Single Market allows the UK to pursue an ambitious FTA with the EU as sovereign equals, as well as striking trade deals with other international partners. The specifics of our own agreement will be the subject of the next phase of negotiations. We will keep Parliament updated throughout those discussions and provide analysis at appropriate points. The OBR will, of course, continue to take Government policy – including the UK’s future relationship with the EU – as the basis for its economic and fiscal forecasts, and will provide its usual comprehensive analysis as part of these.

Coinage

Chris Ruane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many 50 pence coins commemorating the UK leaving the EU have been minted as of 24 October 2019.

John Glen: We do not comment on the Royal Mint’s production lead times as this is commercially sensitive information.

Barclays: Post Office

Jane Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2019 to Question 1792, on Barclays: Post Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of Barclays Bank's planned withdrawal from the banking framework with Post Office Ltd on customers in rural areas who (a) do not have access to the internet, (b) are over 75 years old and (c) have accessibility needs.

John Glen: On 24 October 2019, following my meeting with Matt Hammerstein, CEO Barclays UK, Barclays announced that they will commit to full participation in the Post Office Banking Framework from the renewal date in early 2020, including maintaining the cash withdrawal facility using debit cards for Barclays customers. The Government has been clear that industry must play a key role in ensuring access to cash and banking services for people and businesses, and welcomes this decision which will continue to allow 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking services at over 11,500 post offices across the UK.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

National Citizen Service Trust

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she or her Department was made aware of the contractual dispute between NCS Trust and the largest provider of National Citizen Service, The Challenge.

Nicky Morgan: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport were formally made aware of the contractual dispute between NCS and The Challenge on 15th July when a letter of complaint was sent from Bill Ronald (CEO of The Challenge) to the DCMS Secretary of State.

National Citizen Service Trust

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when the internal investigation into complaints regarding NCS Trust will be concluded; and if she will publish the findings of that investigation.

Nicky Morgan: In line with standard complaint procedures, we are investigating the complaints raised by The Challenge against the NCS Trust and will address any findings as appropriate. The investigation is ongoing. DCMS will let both parties know the result of the investigation when it has concluded.

National Citizen Service Trust

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress NCS Trust has made on addressing the governance issues raised in reports by the Public Accounts Committtee and National Audit Office.

Nicky Morgan: In response to the governance issues raised in reports by the Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit Office, DCMS, together with the NCS Trust, have made the following progress: The NCS Trust transitioned from a Community Interest Company to a Royal Charter body (RCB), in accordance with the NCS Act, on 01 December 2018. This made the NCS Trust an Arm’s Length Body (ALB) of DCMS. The ALB relationship means that the NCS Trust have a higher level of accountability to Parliament and the taxpayer, and ensures that Government have the power to appropriately scrutinise the NCS Trust as they see fit. As a Government ALB, the NCS Trust is now subject to the following Government scrutiny: the National Audit Office (NAO) audits the NCS annual report and accounts; NAO submit all accounts to the Committee of Public Accounts (PAC); The NCS Act requires the NCS Trust to lay Ministerially-approved annual business plans, annual reports and accounts in Parliament; The NCS Royal Charter states that a representative of the Government must sit on the NCS Trust’s Remuneration and Audit and Risk committees; The NCS Trust is subject to all Cabinet Office Spend Controls As a Government ALB, the NCS Trust must abide by all principles laid out in HMT’s Managing Public Money document. As the Sponsor Department, DCMS exercises its governance scrutiny over the NCS Trust through: bi-annual Sponsor meetings between the DCMS Permanent Secretary, as Principal Accounting Officer, and the NCS Trust CEO and Board Chair; a high level of Senior Civil Servant involvement in the NCS Trust’s activities, including regular meetings between NCS Trust and DCMS Senior Sponsor and Sponsor Director; and through specialist-level meetings with officials from across DCMS.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the NCS Trust’s effectiveness in (a) delivering and (b) meeting the targets set for the National Citizen Service.

Nicky Morgan: DCMS assesses the NCS Trust’s effectiveness in delivering the NCS programme against the three core objectives of: social cohesion, social mobility and social engagement - through consecutive, independent evaluations. Since 2013, these have demonstrated the positive impacts that National Citizen Service delivers to both its participants and their communities. DCMS assesses the NCS Trust’s effectiveness in meeting its Key Performance Indicator (KPI) targets on an ongoing basis and reviews these formally at the bi-annual Sponsor meetings between the DCMS Permanent Secretary and NCS Trust CEO and Board Chair. Performance against KPIs is published in the NCS Trust’s Annual Report, which is laid before Parliament.

National Citizen Service Trust: Complaints

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many formal complaints have been made to her Department on the NCS Trust in the last 12 months.

Nicky Morgan: In the last twelve months DCMS has received one formal complaint against the NCS Trust and one formal complaint regarding the terms of the new contracts issued by the NCS Trust.

Local Broadcasting: Radio

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing Ofcom to protect local radio news services from reductions by multimedia companies.

Nigel Adams: Ofcom has a statutory duty under section 314 of the Communication Act 2013 to ensure that holders of analogue local radio licences carry locally relevant content and that a suitable proportion of local content is made locally. Ofcom are required to publish and keep under review guidance for commercial radio licensees setting out the detailed local programming requirements that Ofcom has considers appropriate for local stations to carry, including the minimum amount of locally made news. Ofcom's localness guidelines are published on Ofcom's website. https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/information-for-industry/radio-broadcasters/localness

Youth Investment Fund

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure the financial sustainability of the youth investment fund sustainable beyond 2025.

Nicky Morgan: This government believes financial sustainability for youth services depends on a genuine partnership between the public, private and civil society sectors. Our proposals for the Youth Investment Fund will reflect this.

Youth Investment Fund

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that the youth investment fund will allocate funding for the most disadvantaged young people.

Nicky Morgan: The Youth Investment Fund is intended to offer opportunities to all our young people, including those facing disadvantage, through investment in the provision and coordination of high-quality services for young people. As we develop detailed investment proposals we will consult widely with young people, including those facing disadvantage, and those that work with them.

Youth Services: Hounslow

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department is providing for youth facilities in Hounslow.

Nicky Morgan: We have seven programmes that have been funded in and around Hounslow through the #iwill Fund, including the Our Barn Youth Club and the Uprising Leadership Group. We recognise the importance of investing in our young people, and so in September this year the Chancellor announced a £500 million Youth Investment fund over five years. This will help build up to 60 new youth centres and refurbish hundreds of existing youth facilities across the country, as well as providing over 100 mobile facilities for harder to reach areas. The fund will also support the provision and coordination of high-quality services for young people, and an investment in the youth workforce.

Broadband

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential contribution of (a) FTTP, (b) DOCSIS, (c) xDSL and (d) G.fast technology in supporting (i) smart city applications, (ii) fourth industrial revolution innovations and (iii) 5G backhaul.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the differences in (a) speed, (b) reliability and (c) energy efficiency of (i) FTTP, (ii) FTTC, (iii) DOCSIS, (iv) xDSL and (v) G.fast technology.

Matt Warman: Copper based ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber lines), FTTC (fibre to the cabinet), and G.fast cannot provide gigabit speeds, although performance between these services varies. ADSL is capable of delivering maximum download speeds of 24Mbps, compared to FTTC (VDSL/virtual digital subscriber line) which can deliver download speeds of up to 80Mbps and G.fast which is currently capable of providing speeds of up to 330Mbps. However, with all these services, the speed achievable declines with distance, with the highest speeds only available to premises closest to the cabinet. FTTP (fibre to the premises or full fibre) and DOCSIS (data over cable service interface specification) 3.1 are both capable of gigabit download speeds. However, unlike DOCSIS 3.1, FTTP can also offer symmetrical upload speeds, and can therefore deliver gigabit upload as well as download. High upload speeds are especially important to businesses in sectors where large files need to be transferred e.g. media production, as well as for certain domestic uses, such as online gaming. All gigabit capable networks also offer increased reliability and resilience compared to copper, with FTTP providing the most reliable and resilient service. As well as improved quality of service, full fibre networks requires much lower maintenance compared to copper networks, with five times fewer faults. The reduction in fault rate means FTTP networks are cheaper to run than copper, and the National Infrastructure Assessment estimated that this could save £5bn in operating costs over 30 years. The department has not made specific assessments of the differences in energy efficiency. However, FTTP has lower energy requirements than copper and cable technologies and requires the use of fewer exchanges, and will therefore likely lead to reduced emissions for similar bandwidths.  In addition, the Government is investing £167m into Made Smarter, the UK’s key industrial digitalisation programme, to put UK at forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Fibre is a key requirement for 5G networks, providing high speed and capacity mobile backhaul to match the capacity of 5G mobile networks. It is important that mobile operators and infrastructure providers have access to the key inputs for network densification, including sufficient fibre backhaul capacity.

Business: Cybercrime

Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the protection of businesses from cyber attacks after the cyber attack on Pitney Bowes.

Matt Warman: The Government is aware of the cyber attack on Pitney Bowes and urges all organisations to ensure they have appropriate cyber security controls in place to protect themselves. The Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy (2016-2021) is backed with £1.9 billion investment to transform the nation’s cyber security and make the UK the safest place to live and do business online. As part of the strategy we have opened the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), which provides guidance and support to help businesses be more resilient to cyber attacks. This includes the Small Business Guide and an online staff training module, plus the Board Toolkit and '10 Steps to Cyber Security' guidance for larger organisations, as well as a programme of business engagement activity. The NCSC is the lead Government organisation for managing cyber incidents and has led on 658 incidents in the last year, providing support to almost 900 victim organisations, handling almost 1,800 incidents since commencing operations. In addition, the Government is currently undertaking a Review of Cyber Security Incentives and Regulations to help understand the effectiveness of Government support to date and what more can be done to ensure businesses of all sizes are effectively managing their cyber risks.

Prime Minister

UK relations with EU

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Prime Minister, what direction he has given and to which Departments on the UK's future relationship with the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Boris Johnson: The Government is undertaking extensive preparations in advance of the next phase of negotiations with the EU. The Political Declaration sets out firm commitments to achieve a comprehensive free trade agreement and take back control of our laws, borders, money and trade.The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is leading preparations for our Future Relationship negotiations across Government, on my behalf. The Department for Exiting the European Union works closely with colleagues in No10, my Europe Adviser, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UKRep in Brussels and key Whitehall Departments such as the Department for International Trade, HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in that work. This includes working closely with all departments to put in place appropriate governance structures and to build further our capacity and capability, in order to start negotiating the future relationship as soon as possible after we leave.

Women and Equalities

Period Poverty Task Force

Janet Daby: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress the Government's period poverty task force has made in its objectives since it was established.

Victoria Atkins: The cross-sectoral Period Poverty Taskforce launched on 23rd July 2019 and has established three workstreams: Access for All, Research & Evidence and Stigma & Education. The workstreams have met twice and begun to identify: access barriers and the groups that are most affected by them; a programme of work to tackle stigma and shame surrounding menstruation; and research priorities to improve the evidence surrounding period poverty and menstrual stigma in the UK.